Celebrity Moving Down Market??

[vancojo]

Our Third Celebrity cruise (on Eclipse) was a disappointment. We had viewed this line as providing upscale fun. On this cruise

 

-- over half of the activities on the daily schedule were something happening in one of the boutiques or shops. And those activities/sales did not even happen as or when advertised many times

 

--The live entertainment we had enjoyed at cocktail hour/sail away was not on the schedule most days. Some scheduled entertainment was cancelled to allow the foyer to be used for a selling/auction event.

 

--The majority of the passengers had beverage packages, which Celebrity seems to have paid for by cutting staff. If you enjoyed attentive, personal service from bar staff in the past--forget it--they had their heads down slinging drinks--no time to smile or talk or to mix a very good cocktail--Passengers asking for nuts or chips to accompany drinks at the bars were told that these were not available.

 

-Sommeliers no longer talk to passengers in the MDR--they were running around with four half full bottles of wine in their hands, filling glasses

 

--We concluded that the big increase in Beverage package passengers has changed the Celebrity experience into something like an extended "Booze cruise "--they appear to have chosen to cut a lot of the luxury and fun service items , figuring that customers won't mind as long as booze is free??

 

Doesn't work for us--we are very disappointed.

[Cruise Junky]

Not to doubt you but we had a completely different experience on Connie two weeks ago. I had just written my wine exam two days before we left and had great conversations with our sommelier. Snacks were provided in the martini bar, no issue with bar service anywhere else. Might be a specific ship issue.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Cruise Junky

[vancojo]

Not to doubt you but we had a completely different experience on Connie two weeks ago. I had just written my wine exam two days before we left and had great conversations with our sommelier. Snacks were provided in the martini bar, no issue with bar service anywhere else. Might be a specific ship issue.

 

Fair enough--Any idea what the percentage of passengers with drink packages was on your cruise ??

 

The Bar manager told us our ship had the highest percentage he had every experienced and admitted that managing it was difficult. As Celebrity continues to promote the packages, I figure it will just keep going up on all itineraries and they won't adjust staffing to address it. They ran out of some of the wines that were available on the packages. And we noticed that the wine list included the items available on the basic package plus lots of very expensive wines--but had removed many of the mid range bottles. They had also eliminated the two- for- one drink specials they used to have at happy hour. The drink of the day was not a bargain, but rather something pricey that you had to pay an up- charge for if you didn't have a premium package. The point is--they are pricing things to make it more likely that people will select the drink packages on their promotions --it becomes the only reasonable option--ergo--ships like ours with 80% of passengers with drink packages --and an unpleasant atmosphere-- and upcharges on everything from Zumba to Martini tastings that used to be free or reasonably priced.

[Lastdance]

Where did you travel? Was it a TA...Caribbean? None issue on our Millennium cruise to Alaska...

Edited May 25, 2016 by Lastdance

[Cruise Junky]

No idea on the drink package percentage. Everyone I knew onboard had it and I didn't see many people ever sign a bill. We ran out of some wine too. Our Sommelier was saying it was frustrating as the same wines aren't consistently ordered. One cruise the Pinot will be super popular so they'll order far more for the next cruise and then everyone wants Carmenere on that cruise. Can't comment on happy hour as we had the premium package so didn't pay attention.

[chemmo]

We had never bought a package as we always thought we would not get value from then. On our last two cruises the premium package has been included with our room and we have really enjoyed it!

 

Firstly, we have found the wine selection better than expected and have found some really helpful Sommeliers who have given us offerings not on any list..We would also try different wines whereas when buying a bottle we would stick with what we knew...Once or twice we would do course by course wine pairing.

 

Secondly, I have loved experimenting! With the high cost of cocktails when I was paying I stuck to what I knew I would like, now I will try the unusual.

 

Thirdly, we have found service at the bars no real issue...with no slips to complete staff did seem to serve faster. What we did notice was there seemed less pool waiters and the Martini bar was far too busy pre dinner, we avoided it.

 

Finally, we also found the package great for coffee, water....just so nice not to consider the cost. I don't think we drank any more but I think we genuinely enjoyed the drinking more if that makes sense!

 

Neither of our last two cruises have had any flavour of being 'booze cruises' (one Caribbean and one South Pacific) . Never saw anyone ever mildly intoxicated but we did see some happy cruisers!

[ghstudio]

 

-- over half of the activities on the daily schedule were something happening in one of the boutiques or shops.

 

 

I certainly have to agree with this point....how many "unveiling" events can one have in a cruise....the brown (sorry chocolate) diamond unveiling, the fabrege unveiling and so on....the watch sales, inventory clearance sales and so on. I've seen the Parke West Auctioneer introduced as a ship's officer...no I'm not kidding. Shopping is now an event at no cost, only profit, to Celebrity. No need to point out that the casino tournaments and bingo are "for profit" activities. The port lectures are no more than excursion sales or "kick back" store suggestions and of course future cruise presentations are to sell future cruises. Yes...there are significantly less activities as well as some that are now offered for a fee like zumba.

 

Fortunately, we are not activity people. If there is an on board lecturer on some interesting topic, we'll attend, but mostly we'll do our own thing....and thankfully, the loud music (for the new younger affluents who aren't flocking to Celebrity ships) fiasco has ended and it's easy to find a nice place to read, play cards or whatever. I'm pretty sure that those who are looking for activity after activity...pool games with officers, newlywed games, etc now find Celebrity ships pretty boring....which might be why celebrity continues to attract us older folks.

 

We had no problem with drinks, bartenders or sommeliers on the Eclipse last week....other than confusion about what drinks are on what drink package...and yes, most all had some drink package...no one seemed to sign any slips.

Edited May 25, 2016 by ghstudio

[Hlitner]

The OP's review made me smile because we were thinking about our recent long HAL Prinsendam cruise. The bar service on the Prinsendam was world-class....but that is because very few passengers drink! So if you were in a bar at 10pm, it was likely you were the only person in the bar (with several servers). On the other hand, when we were on the Eclipse (14 day Caribbean Cruise) the Martini bar was packed several people deep, the busy bar tenders were having fun entertaining as they worked, and there was lots of life. So we are wondering which is better, an empty bar on a dead ship, or lots of people (and crew) having fun.

 

As to wine service, we do agree that the staff is busy working rather then socializing. Opps...sorry but we thought the job of sommelier's is to pour wine. On the other hand, many other lines have totally eliminated sommeliers and just let the waiters handle all the wine. There are pros and cons to both methods. But we do agree that Celebrity's drink packages do encourage drinking. But, we would point out, that nearly every mass market line now offers drink packages, which are quite profitable for the cruise lines.

 

Hank

[chamima]

I certainly have to agree with this point....how many "unveiling" events can one have in a cruise....the brown (sorry chocolate) diamond unveiling, the fabrege unveiling and so on....the watch sales, inventory clearance sales and so on. I've seen the Parke West Auctioneer introduced as a ship's officer...no I'm not kidding. Shopping is now an event at no cost, only profit, to Celebrity. No need to point out that the casino tournaments and bingo are "for profit" activities. The port lectures are no more than excursion sales or "kick back" store suggestions and of course future cruise presentations are to sell future cruises. Yes...there are significantly less activities as well as some that are now offered for a fee like zumba.

 

Fortunately, we are not activity people. If there is an on board lecturer on some interesting topic, we'll attend, but mostly we'll do our own thing....and thankfully, the loud music (for the new younger affluents who aren't flocking to Celebrity ships) fiasco has ended and it's easy to find a nice place to read, play cards or whatever. I'm pretty sure that those who are looking for activity after activity...pool games with officers, newlywed games, etc now find Celebrity ships pretty boring....which might be why celebrity continues to attract us older folks.

 

We had no problem with drinks, bartenders or sommeliers on the Eclipse last week....other than confusion about what drinks are on what drink package...and yes, most all had some drink package...no one seemed to sign any slips.

 

 

The lack of evening entertainment was our biggest complaint on our Eclipse cruise last February.

As I'm reading these comments I wonder if it's a ship specific problem.

What a shame to short-change the people who are booking the longer cruises (at least in the winter). :(

[kenevenpar]

Two weeks ago on the Summit, we had none of the bar issues. It seemed like most everyone had a package, yet we got to know the bartenders at the Martini bar as well as Rond-a-vous and the pool bar. Excellent service with rarely a wait.

 

Three of the four sommeliers we encountered were great, the fourth was OK just not quite as helpful.

[morbihan]

Nice to see you about Hank. I wondered if you were off gallivanting with Mrs. Hank.

 

We are on the Silhouette. Last night before we arrive in Amsterdam.

 

I would say 99% have a drinks package and they are being steadily used. We do stick with what we know we like but I tried an appletini and nearly poisoned myself. Left it. Was going to try a new martini every day - in my head they are free - but didn't.

 

Not drinking tonight as driving tomorrow so went to get one last mudslide from Al Bacio at lunchtime only to be told that didn't have the ingredients and never made them so goodness knows what I have been drinking there for the past 12 days:D

 

My cosmo was different every time I ordered one so when I found a person who made them how I like them I went to him always. Some of them almost made the enamel drop off my teeth. The barmen can be very slapdash and approximate in their measuring.

[milamber]

We were on the Eclipse last week and I have to agree with many of the comments about the decline in the overall standard. This was only our second cruise on Celebrity, though we have done many others since with other lines. Our favourite cruise ever had been our first Celebrity one, on the Infinity, so we were looking forward to repeating the experience.

 

Unfortunately, although the weather and ports were wonderful, the experience around the ship didn't come close to that on the Infinity 4 years ago. It might be ship specific, but won't encourage us to return to Celebrity again in a hurry.

[ClaudiaB]

We had never bought a package as we always thought we would not get value from then. On our last two cruises the premium package has been included with our room and we have really enjoyed it!

 

Firstly, we have found the wine selection better than expected and have found some really helpful Sommeliers who have given us offerings not on any list..We would also try different wines whereas when buying a bottle we would stick with what we knew...Once or twice we would do course by course wine pairing.

 

Secondly, I have loved experimenting! With the high cost of cocktails when I was paying I stuck to what I knew I would like, now I will try the unusual.

 

Thirdly, we have found service at the bars no real issue...with no slips to complete staff did seem to serve faster. What we did notice was there seemed less pool waiters and the Martini bar was far too busy pre dinner, we avoided it.

 

Finally, we also found the package great for coffee, water....just so nice not to consider the cost. I don't think we drank any more but I think we genuinely enjoyed the drinking more if that makes sense!

 

Neither of our last two cruises have had any flavour of being 'booze cruises' (one Caribbean and one South Pacific) . Never saw anyone ever mildly intoxicated but we did see some happy cruisers!

 

I have to say this has been our exact same experience, to the letter, except we spend zero time at the pool on any cruise so I can't comment on pool bars.

[richsea]

Is Celebrity moving down market?....I would have to say yes, they are; but in our experience, they still provide a very good product. However, reading the constant negative comments here by certain posters makes me wonder why they are still sailing Celebrity at all if the experience is so bad.

Edited May 25, 2016 by richsea

[morbihan]

We sailed on Silhouette two years ago. Same cabin.

 

I think it is certainly a lot shabbier now. How much does a tin of varnish cost to do the rails? Deep clean the carpets? Scrub the connecting balcony doors then paint them? Little things.

 

Then I read a post to say that she has had a refit . . Oh dear.

 

For the moment it is our last time with Celebrity. They could have a bargain offer though:D

 

Last minute bargain hunter now.

[lucinjo]

Is Celebrity moving downmarket? Well, We paid less per day on our last cruise than on our first cruise 16 years ago. Then, we had a guarantee cabin (and were thrilled to get an oceanview), last year an aqua class cabin with a drink package, gratuities and onboard credit. If you take into account inflation, the cost was less than half of our first cruise. So, in a sense they have moved "down market" since a wider range of people can now afford to cruise on Celebrity.

I must agree however, that we miss some of the things Celebrity used to offer. We loved the emphasis on wine they used to have. Not only the Sommeliers but a true Cellar Master (before they had a bar of this name), who had extensive wine education and had the job of training the sommeliers and hosting numerous wine education events (not just rote tastings). With purchase of a high level wine package or bottles got you Reidel glasses at your table every night (the sommeliers had to wash them by hand themselves). The beverage packages have changed most of this. Also, on our wine immersion cruise a few years ago on the Constellation, Celebrity shot themselves in the foot by hosting wonderful seminars on Burgundy (complete with Burgundian winemaker) during the day while ported in Bordeaux and Bilbao. They wondered why low attendance? Don't have enrichment seminars while people are out touring actual vineyards! We also miss flowers in the cabins, the sea day "grand brunch" and the nice thick towels in AQ.

We tend to sail Celebrity on port intensive cruises (our next cruise is to the Baltic) so having fewer free activities isn't important, and we still enjoy Dining in Blu. After 8-10 hours of touring we can make do with a cocktail, dinner and a little jazz or a production show.

On cruises with more sea days we generally choose a line with more extensive activities.

Edited May 25, 2016 by lucinjo

[getaway101]

Our Third Celebrity cruise (on Eclipse) was a disappointment. We had viewed this line as providing upscale fun. On this cruise

 

-- over half of the activities on the daily schedule were something happening in one of the boutiques or shops. And those activities/sales did not even happen as or when advertised many times

 

--The live entertainment we had enjoyed at cocktail hour/sail away was not on the schedule most days. Some scheduled entertainment was cancelled to allow the foyer to be used for a selling/auction event.

 

--The majority of the passengers had beverage packages, which Celebrity seems to have paid for by cutting staff. If you enjoyed attentive, personal service from bar staff in the past--forget it--they had their heads down slinging drinks--no time to smile or talk or to mix a very good cocktail--Passengers asking for nuts or chips to accompany drinks at the bars were told that these were not available.

 

-Sommeliers no longer talk to passengers in the MDR--they were running around with four half full bottles of wine in their hands, filling glasses

 

--We concluded that the big increase in Beverage package passengers has changed the Celebrity experience into something like an extended "Booze cruise "--they appear to have chosen to cut a lot of the luxury and fun service items , figuring that customers won't mind as long as booze is free??

 

Doesn't work for us--we are very disappointed.

 

I totally agree. We just got off the Infinity in May and were very disappointed in Celebrity for the very first time. Felt like I was on a Royal Caribbean or Carnival cruise....NOT that there is anything wrong with that....just NOT what I expected from Celebrity. We ordered drinks in the MDR one night and they got it wrong. Again on the 2nd night....wrong. 3rd night.....wrong. Finally we stopped ordering. And if Celebrity makes their martini glasses any smaller.....it will be a shot glass. I did not have the drink package so I expected a normal size martini glass for my $12.00

[CruisingChick]

Finally we stopped ordering. And if Celebrity makes their martini glasses any smaller.....it will be a shot glass. I did not have the drink package so I expected a normal size martini glass for my $12.00

 

The glasses are smaller and they don't even fill them to the top. Back when they first had the martini bars on the M Class ships the glasses were bigger, they filled them and they left the shaker with you for what was left it that.

 

We never have had a drink package either.

[vancojo]

Is Celebrity moving down market?....I would have to say yes, they are; but in our experience, they still provide a very good product. However, reading the constant negative comments here by certain posters makes me wonder why they are still sailing Celebrity at all if the experience is so bad.

 

I did not include in my original post that we came home and cancelled the Celebrity Cruise we had scheduled for December. I am not likely to be a returning negative poster--

[richsea]

I did not include in my original post that we came home and cancelled the Celebrity Cruise we had scheduled for December. I am not likely to be a returning negative poster--

 

Good for you. I would do the same thing if I felt that Celebrity regressed to a point that I could not live with. But it seems there are long time Celebrity cruisers here that just keep finding fault, yet continue to sail Celebrity, instead of taking their cruise dollars elsewhere.

[sandancer]

Where did you travel? Was it a TA...Caribbean? None issue on our Millennium cruise to Alaska...

 

Unlikely to be a TA. No free beverage packages and I don't think many people bought one on the Eclipse TA. Never had a problem getting a drink and the sommeliers were as friendly and chatty as ever.

Edited May 25, 2016 by sandancer

[vancojo]

Where did you travel? Was it a TA...Caribbean? None issue on our Millennium cruise to Alaska...

 

We were on a Norway Fjords tour that started in Southhampton--I believe that the cruise was sold in the UK (where most of the passengers lived) with all three of the usual 1-2-3- items included, which accounted for the high number of drink packages. But I was surprised when the bar manager said that he normally expected only 900 packages on a ship of 2800 or so--I think our ship had something like 2600 packages.

 

But lack of staff to work with that was only part of the issue--the overall design of the experience and the menus, the way things are priced and the emphasis put on activities or enrichment vs selling and drinking tells me that this line has decided to promote itself with the "free booze" idea--since you can't possibly justify paying the prices they ask for the dinky little glasses of badly poured drinks--certainly everyone will end up picking or paying for drink packages. Like I said--I want more luxury and fun on a cruise--I can shop and drink at home.

[north29]

I think even those who have cruised many times or exclusively on the Upscale Boutique cruise lines, most likely are saying the same things.

[chemmo]

We were on a Norway Fjords tour that started in Southhampton--I believe that the cruise was sold in the UK (where most of the passengers lived) with all three of the usual 1-2-3- items included, which accounted for the high number of drink packages. But I was surprised when the bar manager said that he normally expected only 900 packages on a ship of 2800 or so--I think our ship had something like 2600 packages.

 

But lack of staff to work with that was only part of the issue--the overall design of the experience and the menus, the way things are priced and the emphasis put on activities or enrichment vs selling and drinking tells me that this line has decided to promote itself with the "free booze" idea--since you can't possibly justify paying the prices they ask for the dinky little glasses of badly poured drinks--certainly everyone will end up picking or paying for drink packages. Like I said--I want more luxury and fun on a cruise--I can shop and drink at home.

 

Very surprised...if the British want a 'booze cruise' or a land based holiday AI they are spoilt for choice...Thompson Cruises, Canary Islands and Southern Spain all offer year round relatively cheap packages...why people wanting a 'booze cruise' would book the Norwegian Ffiords or a Celebrity cruise for that matter I do not understand.....Especially as once you get off the ship in Norway drink prices are really high...

 

This is the last cruise I would expect to be seen as a 'booze cruise'.

 

Was there anything positive about your cruise? Excursions, speciality dining?

 

On our last cruise (South Pacific) we knew it attracted a younger Australian crowd and boarded expecting possibly a slightly 'louder' cruise than we were used to. Did not happen. Yes, lots of younger people on board but each very respectful of the general ambiance of others...It still very much retained the feel of a Celebrity Cruise....

[grandgeezer]

My favorite online travel agency is having a huge Memorial Day sale. I checked pricing on the November transatlantic and the 14 day Med cruise on the Silhouette. To my shock, they have group bookings on both of them. I'm paying $2082 p.p. for a Concierge guarantee, on the Med cruise. This includes the "best" promo of Premium drink package, prepaid gratuities, $300 obc, and unlimited internet for two. If you book through Celebrity, they want $2712 p.p. On the transatlantic, we have a 2D balcony and a $250 obc for $1423 p.p. Celebrity wants $1911 p.p.with no obc.

There is a downside though. They charge a cancellation fee so if we had to cancel, we'd be out $200. Also, as other posters have mentioned, I'd be giving up control of my reservations.

Risk $200 in order to save over $2200, I think I'll take that risk. Giving up control of my reservation, really?

I can still watch for price drops, maybe it'll get better LOL.