No daily water in Aqua class per Corp email to ship

[warmwinds]

Just noticed that it was the official CC person who listed the AQ perks. I have some specific questions for (her)?

 

When I book a hotel that includes, say, breakfast and parking, and then before I stay they change it to room only, if I booked with the understanding I would get those perks, then I get them ("grandfathered in").

 

 

Why is it X can have you book a cruise getting certain perks (something as mundane as water in AQ), and then you change it before you sail to not get those perks, and everyone at X thinks that is ok? Don't you realize we are booking the entire package, expecting we will receive what was available when we signed on?

 

And don't you think it's really, really chintzy to take away freaking bottles of water that you can buy at Costco for pennies (I personally do NOT want to search out a store and lug my water on board - I want the water that was shown as a perk when I booked Aqua Class!).

 

You all seem bent on driving away your most loyal customers...why?

 

I will take our cruise in February since it's already past final payment, but honestly if the little things continue to be eroded it's really going to make it hard in the future to pay higher prices for less.

 

Good luck getting your coveted 25 year old's at the new prices!

[keesar]

If you check out what Concierge Class offers, there is the welcome sparkling wine and the afternoon savories. That has been removed from Aqua and there is no statement relating the two classes any longer.

 

Both classes have free shoeshine service listed as well as a few other items.

 

Looks like cutbacks to me.

[warmwinds]

Yes, but when was the website sneakily changed? I booked our February 2016 cruise on May 20, 2014...yes, almost 2 years before. I know the CC perks and the daily water were part of the deal back then.

 

Why should I not get them??

[VEK]

The U.K. Website has not changed, yet. Still says daily deliveries of bottled water.

[LabGuy64]

I think a WalMart comparison is perhaps a bit harsh

 

 

 

It's the cheapening of the product that gets me. Celebrity is turning into a Walmart. Everything is about running deals and cutting quality. That's why I'm booking elsewhere.

 

Michael

[20pluscruises]

Origin of aqua-. From Latin aqua, water; see aqua. They really need to change the name of the cabin class "aqua suite" if daily water is removed from the ammenity list. Very disappointing.

[warmwinds]

I must get 5 e-mails from X a day about goodness knows what.

 

Not once did I ever get an e-mail, as a booked AQ passenger, that the perks had changed.

[gizmodog]

In place of their cruise line getting better with perks, they charge more and give you less, I have one more celebrity cruise to take in April, then I am done

[LabGuy64]

that information is given on a need to know basis

 

:cool:

 

What is next? There were no flowers on our recent Millennium cruise in AQU and the shampoo and conditioner were standard, so I was glad we brought our own.

 

It is not a problem if you have a package but they are not included on transatlantic sailings along with some others. If they take away any more benefits we will wonder why we are paying so much more money for this class cabin.

 

Do Suites get bottled water?

[chumley]

I am with warmwinds on this one. We have 2 upcoming cruises on Celebrity in Aqua Class and the bottled water, while not important to some, is important to us. We don't get the beverage package and don't like the sodium content in the water on the ship. When I booked both of these cruises, over a year ago, bottled water was one of my benefits. Now it's not. It doesn't feel good to have something taken away that you enjoy and not even be told about it unless you happened to check their web site to see if any Aqua Class benefits had changed.

 

Leslie

[sptrout]

LOL - Well, you folks made me you back and check. I first posted the AQ amenities changes on June 22. Who knows when Celebrity actually made the website change.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46917599&postcount=4

Edited December 10, 2015 by sptrout

[hcat]

If you check out what Concierge Class offers, there is the welcome sparkling wine and the afternoon savories. That has been removed from Aqua and there is no statement relating the two classes any longer.

 

Both classes have free shoeshine service listed as well as a few other items.

 

Looks like cutbacks to me.

 

Ugh!

Hope Celebrity Cruises will confirm that afternoon snacks are not taken away as well...the basic ones are not the best but we have had our attendants mix in some nice variations...shrimp, cheese and crackers, fruit, little bits of caviar..we look forward to it and don't mind filling out the form to say we want them..

 

So does this mean that in addition to foraging for our water, we will have to make a daily room service order for our afternoon snacks?

 

Btw..they list a complimentary breakfast daily in BLU ...how generous... isn't that part of why why AQ costs more...2 meals in BLU..?

 

.Seems Celebrity no longer wants us to feel like a Celebrity ( old X tag line) Hope they re think AQ perks..

[wallie5446]

We were on the Equinox Nov 20th thru the 30th in a Aqua 2 cabin.

We had an order slip for the daily afternoon snacks. Never filled it out cause we were not going to stop what we were doing to run to the cabin to eat a warm shrimp on a cracker.

 

We only wasted 1 evening at the Elite cocktail time. Not many others bothered to go either, throw a rock across the Sky Lounge and you would not hit anyone.

 

The wifester is talking to my Brother In Law on the phone, and just said this was our best cruise in 25 years.

 

The CC Hostess had the most beautiful rose sent to the cabin for the wifester, that lasted all week.

 

IOHO, Celebrity is still getting it right 90% of the time. The 10% is not worth the time to worry over. So if some want to try another line, get on with it.

[jagoffee]

On our Equinox sailing 3 weeks ago there was an activities manager who managed one activities person. It was the same on our last two Summit sailings. All three cruises had instances where one activities person had to be in two places at one time. Our last Princess cruise in November 2014 had 6 activities staff in addition to the CD. It is VERY noticeable.

 

Two is twice as many as one. I cannot say how many they actually had on board last month, but it seemed like more than the two and the CD. They sure were busy because they had a lot of activities every day. I will pay more attention next month.

[ggglo]

We just booked Aqua class on reflection transatlantic for April 2017. Can't believe that celebrity is so cheap that they had to stop water bottles in your cabin. We don't drink so we have no interest in beverage package.

 

Time to rethink our loyalty to celebrity. We are elite on both celebrity and princess. Maybe it's time to go back to princess!!!

[The_Big_M]

I don't even use a Brita filter because my tap water is fine, and I'm not what you'd consider an environmental nut. But the difference between all those other bottles and ones for water is that the ones for water are almost always wholly unnecessary if you have a source of potable water and a refillable container. Soda has to be packaged in its own single-use bottle because of the product that is inside it. Most people also don't lug their laundry detergent bottles around town and then toss them in a can where they blow out and become litter for the next 1,000 years. That one bottle of detergent also holds product that is used multiple times. Our landfills are filled with water bottles that were manufactured solely for the convenience of not having to turn on a tap and fill another drinking container (which ultimately you pay for in increased trash services cost). The epitome of waste.

 

Spot on.

 

I remember when they came out, and it was so weird. Why pay for something, and introduce all this handling and waste when it's delivered to you for virtually free?

[Northern Aurora]

A bottle of water costs less than 10 cents wholesale. On a 14 night cruise, celebrity saves max $2.80 per cabin and that's if both bottles are drunk each day. Wait, the first 2 are free so we are talking about max $2.40 saving per cabin for a 14 night cruise....celebrity is going beyond the ridiculous in taking the aqua out of aqua class. Do the brains in hq realize that the very folks that care the most about bottled water are the very demographic they are targeting...hello!!!

 

It just amazes me that the brains in HQ are so willing to make this cut given the prices for bottled water. I also think that they are going beyond the ridiculous in diminishing this long-standing Aqua Class perk. Someone(s) in HQ simply does not understand that it is, with very few exceptions, cheaper to maintain and keep a repeat customer than to recruit a replacement for a customer you have alienated.

[Northern Aurora]

......

 

Can Celebrity Cruises please comment on the reason for the change and why suites are getting perks added while AQ is losing a good one ..they can keep the tea and provide water...but we will use our classic package for water although much less convenient!!

 

It would simply be polite if the X "official poster" would comment on the reason for this furtive change in the AQ perks. Just a little basic curtesy to the customers really isn't too much to expect.

[CABINET]

Just noticed that it was the official CC person who listed the AQ perks. I have some specific questions for (her)?

 

When I book a hotel that includes, say, breakfast and parking, and then before I stay they change it to room only, if I booked with the understanding I would get those perks, then I get them ("grandfathered in").

 

 

Why is it X can have you book a cruise getting certain perks (something as mundane as water in AQ), and then you change it before you sail to not get those perks, and everyone at X thinks that is ok? Don't you realize we are booking the entire package, expecting we will receive what was available when we signed on?

 

And don't you think it's really, really chintzy to take away freaking bottles of water that you can buy at Costco for pennies (I personally do NOT want to search out a store and lug my water on board - I want the water that was shown as a perk when I booked Aqua Class!).

 

You all seem bent on driving away your most loyal customers...why?

 

I will take our cruise in February since it's already past final payment, but honestly if the little things continue to be eroded it's really going to make it hard in the future to pay higher prices for less.

 

Good luck getting your coveted 25 year old's at the new prices!

 

Can't talk about the US but here in the UK it is the younger demographic that carry about and drink bottles of water as a matter of course.

 

My young niece and nephew do drink alcoholic drinks but with nowhere near the frequency that my generation do. Many times when they visit they just drink water saving "real" drinking for when they go out with their friends.

 

Just the sort of age group that would be keen to have a plentiful supply of bottled water.

 

Surely a better solution would have been to replace the original bottles if they are used so that those people who don't bother to drink it don't end up with a room full of unwanted bottles of water.

[uktog]

It's the cheapening of the product that gets me. Celebrity is turning into a Walmart. Everything is about running deals and cutting quality. That's why I'm booking elsewhere.

 

Michael

 

Well said, though I'm feeling it's more like trashy pound/dollar store than Walmart - all glittering on the outside but don't open the packaging.

 

The communications by the cruiseline at all levels gives you a clue what they really think of their loyal customers. I know many do not agree with views on the The impact to some of some of the suite perk changes, but this Aqua change is another example of sneak it in and hope they don't notice. It's totally unfair to existing bookers and I hope someone from the UK with a booking in Aqua reminds them of their Advertising standards obligations.

 

I don't like being treated as stupid (aka am I too stupid to notice) or an easy touch (she won't mind paying a few bucks a day more for water). And because of the sodium content, shipboard tap is not an option for many like myself.

 

All this says to me I cannot trust Celebrity Cruises any more, so I will be extremely reluctant to book again.

 

Hope they find it as easy to build loyalty with their new target market as it has been to lose the trust of their currenlty becoming less loyal customers

[Beamafar]

Just noticed that it was the official CC person who listed the AQ perks. I have some specific questions for (her)?

 

When I book a hotel that includes, say, breakfast and parking, and then before I stay they change it to room only, if I booked with the understanding I would get those perks, then I get them ("grandfathered in").

 

 

Why is it X can have you book a cruise getting certain perks (something as mundane as water in AQ), and then you change it before you sail to not get those perks, and everyone at X thinks that is ok? Don't you realize we are booking the entire package, expecting we will receive what was available when we signed on?

And don't you think it's really, really chintzy to take away freaking bottles of water that you can buy at Costco for pennies (I personally do NOT want to search out a store and lug my water on board - I want the water that was shown as a perk when I booked Aqua Class!).

 

You all seem bent on driving away your most loyal customers...why?

 

I will take our cruise in February since it's already past final payment, but honestly if the little things continue to be eroded it's really going to make it hard in the future to pay higher prices for less.

 

Good luck getting your coveted 25 year old's at the new prices!

 

My sentiments, exactly. Surely you're entitled to receive the services and benefits stated at the time of booking? I'm trying Celebrity for the first time next month but I'd be loathe to book again as I couldn't be sure that the 'inclusions' would suddenly be removed prior to sailing. I've already experienced the misinformation regarding complimentary speciality restaurant meals for suite passengers and have lived in fear of sudden cancellation of the cruise itself after booking and paying for flights, hotels etc (with no other alternatives available from the embarkation port during the cruise dates) as it seems =X= does this quite frequently!

Edited December 10, 2015 by Beamafar

[hcat]

We are not on the social media sites...but curious if the AQ perk changes are being discussed

Perhaps someone can let us know....seems Celebrity Cruises post there daily .Suite guests have well represented themselves in getting some of their perks restored and perhaps some added...

 

We pay extra for grats in AQ but not sure why..other than BLU staff...

Edited December 10, 2015 by hcat

[Iamcruzin]

We are not on the social media sites...but curious if the AQ perk changes are being discussed

Perhaps someone can let us know....seems Celebrity Cruises post there daily .Suite guests have well represented themselves in getting some of their perks restored and perhaps some added...

 

We pay extra for grats in AQ but not sure why..other than BLU staff...

 

I'm paying extra for grats in concierge class and only get to eat in the MDR so I don't think the waitstaff in Blu are seeing any extra tip.

[dkjretired]

It would simply be polite if the X "official poster" would comment on the reason for this furtive change in the AQ perks. Just a little basic curtesy to the customers really isn't too much to expect.

 

The Celebrity Cruises poster gives out only facts, does not give opinions and is probably a number of people posting under that name. I appreciate their comments however this is definitely a change, another nail in the coffin for us and Celebrity. Not a game breaker but it is getting there.

[warmwinds]

Here's an idea: for all the passengers who booked while the old perks were still in effect (the water, the concierge class perks), give all those psgrs an extra $50-$150 shipboard credit (depending on length of sailing) to cover the cost of now having to buy their own water, sparkling wine, etc.

 

You say you can't possibly do that? Why not? I'm sure you could run a program that shows the dates of booking. I mean, if you can go back 2 years and take away points from someone (another thread), surely you can keep track of this?

 

I'd be happy to forward you a copy of my reservation with the May 2014 date clearly displayed.

 

Oh, and don't take away any shipboard credit that we already have - just give us the additional.

 

Any new cruises we book we'll know what the situation is, so we won't be expecting anything that is not revealed on the website. But booking under one set of perks and then having them taken away is just not right.

 

Seems fair to me.

Edited December 10, 2015 by warmwinds