Oh those olden days, those golden days...

[Longboysfan]

Our first Celebrity Cruises were on Zenith and Horizon. Those actually were our favorites. Part of it was the times and part was their intimacy.

 

With that said if you adjust for inflation the last time I looked at pricing the pricing back then was more then it is today.

 

Like most things (hotels, airlines, etc.) it isn't what it used to be but IMHO some of what is offered is clearly an improvement over the past and some are cut backs.

 

On the positive side keeping prices low allows more and more people to afford cruises.

 

I also believe our own tastes changes overtime. Things I like back in the day I might not like as much even if they stayed the same because I have changed.

 

I do focus on the positives and am just thankful we can travel and cruise.

 

Celebrity is very dear to my heart as we cruised it often with our family and then by ourselves.

 

Keith

 

Same here - started with the smaller ships Zenith and Horizon.

We loved the Bermuda run.

 

Yes things have changed. From No Sushi to open sushi to no Sushi - well unless you pay heavily for it.

 

Prices are up - well it's inflation.

 

Moved from regular cabins to now looking at Aqua class - the restaurant there is great.

[Cruise Arizona]

I have been cruising with Celebrity since 2003, first cruise was on Mercury and second cruise was on Infinity.

 

We just took a 15 day cruise on Infinity FLL to Santiago, and I have to say it might have been my best Celebrity cruise ever! We loved the service, the enrichment lectures, going through the Canal, the many and varied guest entertainers in the main theater, the quality of the musical acts in the bar venues, and the fun activities. Buffet was excellent. Main dining room excellent.

 

On that cruise we did not have a beverage package as it was a repo cruise. So we had to watch our spending a little, but with everything esle being so good, we loved it. Not discounting your experience and impressions, but for us everything was perfect. I just goes to show that what is perfect for one person might not work for the next, and that is why there are so many different lines from which to choose.

 

That Dec cruise was my 27th cruise, and I think it might be really and truely the best I have ever had.

[chaps612]

I used my cell phone in a public place last time I was onboard. I was really struggling to get a signal on one half of the shop. I needed to have an urgent conversation about my dying grandfather who sadly now no longer with us. I'm sorry you think, that kind of behaviour is tacky.

 

Perhaps you think I should have emailed instead?

 

This individual was having a conversation over speaker phone in the solarium for all to hear. I didn’t gather it being a life and death scenario.

[Banjo]

I have been cruising with Celebrity since 2003, first cruise was on Mercury and second cruise was on Infinity.

 

We just took a 15 day cruise on Infinity FLL to Santiago, and I have to say it might have been my best Celebrity cruise ever! We loved the service, the enrichment lectures, going through the Canal, the many and varied guest entertainers in the main theater, the quality of the musical acts in the bar venues, and the fun activities. Buffet was excellent. Main dining room excellent.

 

On that cruise we did not have a beverage package as it was a repo cruise. So we had to watch our spending a little, but with everything esle being so good, we loved it. Not discounting your experience and impressions, but for us everything was perfect. I just goes to show that what is perfect for one person might not work for the next, and that is why there are so many different lines from which to choose.

 

That Dec cruise was my 27th cruise, and I think it might be really and truely the best I have ever had.

 

 

Was on that cruise also, I agree.

 

 

I thought going through the Canal with the narration was fantastic.

[The_Big_M]

I quite enjoyed some of the Celebrity Life talks on a previous Millennium cruise, but these seemed to have been done away these days. The cost to the cruise line is minimal so why scrap them. They were quite well attended so I doubt that was an issue.

 

Modern corporate revenue raising looks for any improvements, no matter how minimal.

 

Say just a single cabin being released (allocated to an onboard speaker) would be cased as say $2000/week x 52 = ~$100,000/annum x no. of ships, so would actually be a sizeable revenue gain.

 

As seen with the food and other cutbacks, there is little weighting given to the benefits being delivered in onboard quality or experience.

 

Thus revenue gain over cost (negligible) results in that proposal being adopted.

[GottaKnowWhen]

I used my cell phone in a public place last time I was onboard. I was really struggling to get a signal on one half of the shop. I needed to have an urgent conversation about my dying grandfather who sadly now no longer with us. I'm sorry you think, that kind of behaviour is tacky.

 

 

 

Perhaps you think I should have emailed instead?

 

 

 

Sorry about your grandfather. Sounds like a serious conversation best held in private like from the phone in your cabin...

 

 

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[GottaKnowWhen]

I didn't. But DW and I both made our feelings very clear on the surveys which followed our B2B's. If a lot more people did this, then they might take note.

 

 

 

Celebrity staff have always said that changes are based on these surveys as they can identify trends amongst large numbers of cruisers. A complaint to the activities manager may well be in order, but if everyone feeds back then maybe people might see some changes.

 

 

 

I quite enjoyed some of the Celebrity Life talks on a previous Millennium cruise, but these seemed to have been done away these days. The cost to the cruise line is minimal so why scrap them. They were quite well attended so I doubt that was an issue.

 

 

With only 2 sea days in a port-intensive 11 day cruise, I doubt if many people aboard missed having a Celebrity Life talk. Wouldn’t make any sense to bring speaker(s) on for that. Millennium in Alaska is something else. And a similar Caribbean itinerary a year ago on Eclipse out of Florida had additional sea days and there there were Celebrity Life lectures.

 

 

 

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[Bo1953]

Your posts are always interesting and intriguing, however just about all of them have to do with putting Celebrity down. Can you share when was the last time you were on a Celebrity ship? For the the past few years, at least, you point out all that is wrong with Celebrity, and how you have moved on. Why then, do you keep coming to the Celebrity forum? Are you recruiting for Oceania?

 

In your above post you remind us how change and innovation moves the world forward, yet you constantly put Celebrity down for change and innovation. It’s like when Celebrity does it, it is bad; but anyone else, it is progress.

 

I suspect that on every cruise line forum here, people are complaining about change and cutbacks. Being a long time Celebrity cruiser I do it myself. However, we still enjoy the product that Celebrity offers, even if after so many years. Some changes we like, and some not so much, so we are now sailing other lines as well. But to constantly offer nothing but negative opinions regarding one particular line gets old after a while, and people start to consider the source and just not pay it much mind.

Rated :A++++

 

Sometimes some of us rally against these types of posts at the risk of being called rah rahs and loving the title.

 

We know how to bow out gracefully, it appears that others do not, as usual.

 

Bon voyage

 

Sent from my P00I using Tapatalk

[beentothere]

Modern corporate revenue raising looks for any improvements, no matter how minimal.

 

Say just a single cabin being released (allocated to an onboard speaker) would be cased as say $2000/week x 52 = ~$100,000/annum x no. of ships, so would actually be a sizeable revenue gain.

 

As seen with the food and other cutbacks, there is little weighting given to the benefits being delivered in onboard quality or experience.

 

Thus revenue gain over cost (negligible) results in that proposal being adopted.

 

Sorry that does not compute.

 

First, not all sailings warrant costly speakers.

 

Second specialty sailings warrant having speakers otherwise the sailing experience would be diminished.

 

On our Antartica cruise that we recommended to many, without the specialized speakers the cruise would have been at best par and not the top experience that it was.

 

Want to save a buck....have a trained staff. They could double for limited cost. No extra beds.

[The_Big_M]

Sorry that does not compute.

 

First, not all sailings warrant costly speakers.

 

Second specialty sailings warrant having speakers otherwise the sailing experience would be diminished.

 

On our Antartica cruise that we recommended to many, without the specialized speakers the cruise would have been at best par and not the top experience that it was.

 

Want to save a buck....have a trained staff. They could double for limited cost. No extra beds.

 

Your argument doesn't compute. Firstly the speakers aren't costly - "not all sailings warrant costly speakers" - so that point isn't correct.

 

Then you say that some sailings do warrant that (false) cost. However, all speakers come at either no, or negligible cost to the cruise line. That is also not the issue.

[Mynki]

Sorry about your grandfather. Sounds like a serious conversation best held in private like from the phone in your cabin...

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

With this being cruise critic I knew I'd get such a reply. With free cell phone calls and a quiet spot on the shop all went well.

[Mynki]

With only 2 sea days in a port-intensive 11 day cruise, I doubt if many people aboard missed having a Celebrity Life talk. Wouldn’t make any sense to bring speaker(s) on for that. Millennium in Alaska is something else. And a similar Caribbean itinerary a year ago on Eclipse out of Florida had additional sea days and there there were Celebrity Life lectures.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I think you've misunderstood. There is a lack of real entertainment overall. Hence me providing feedback. I'm not a Celebrity fan boy so am not afraid to express myself.

 

On that particular cruise you have a valid point, but there have been none on my last three X cruises. I did enjoy them on a Baltic and Asian cruise before those three though.

[beentothere]

Your argument doesn't compute. Firstly the speakers aren't costly - "not all sailings warrant costly speakers" - so that point isn't correct.

 

 

Then you say that some sailings do warrant that (false) cost. However, all speakers come at either no, or negligible cost to the cruise line. That is also not the issue.

 

 

Professionals are costly. Entertaining people who speak may not be highly paid but its still a room sale lost. My cousin's company represented a number of well known and qualified speakers and their fees were significant.

[Mynki]

Professionals are costly. Entertaining people who speak may not be highly paid but its still a room sale lost. My cousin's company represented a number of well known and qualified speakers and their fees were significant.

 

Are they housed in the crew's quarters? Or in a passengers cabin? Can anyone verify this?

[The_Big_M]

Entertaining people who speak may not be highly paid but its still a room sale lost.

 

 

Which is exactly the point I made in my previous post which you said "did not compute"

 

Professionals are costly. ...

My cousin's company represented a number of well known and qualified speakers and their fees were significant.

 

They certainly are. However, the speakers you get on Celebrity ships are not those sort of speakers. They're just 'experts' who mostly get a free cruise out of it.

[The_Big_M]

Are they housed in the crew's quarters? Or in a passengers cabin? Can anyone verify this?

 

Guest speakers usually are in regular passenger cabins; hence my point that discontinuing them would enable a revenue gain.

[dkjretired]

I think you've misunderstood. There is a lack of real entertainment overall. Hence me providing feedback. I'm not a Celebrity fan boy so am not afraid to express myself.

 

On that particular cruise you have a valid point, but there have been none on my last three X cruises. I did enjoy them on a Baltic and Asian cruise before those three though.

 

Agree, about five years ago they eliminated much of the entertainment around the ship. Ie: acapella groups, jazz groups, etc. that is when they went to the concept of Djs and entertainment in the foyer area. Believe that was not only a change in entertainment but also a change in desired demographics.

 

If someone does a search there were loads of complaints at the time.

[phoenix_dream]

Having cruised Celebrity more than 35 times since 1992, I can honestly say the experience (while still very nice) has distinctly downgraded. My primary complaint is the considerable decrease in live entertainment onboard. Often at night we want to find a bar with music to sit and relax and they are few and far between. Fewer groups and shorter hours. During the day? Except for perhaps a pool group forget about it.

[Mynki]

Agree, about five years ago they eliminated much of the entertainment around the ship. Ie: acapella groups, jazz groups, etc. that is when they went to the concept of Djs and entertainment in the foyer area. Believe that was not only a change in entertainment but also a change in desired demographics.

 

If someone does a search there were loads of complaints at the time.

 

Yep. I remember reading about them on here. Do you think the demographics have changed?

 

To me the average age onboard seems to be around the 58 to 60 mark. I can't believe that it's any younger than that. What was it before they started targeting a younger crowd?

 

Regardless I believe Celebrity have failed to attract their target market. Ironically, I think the poor entertainment might be a major factor here! I have many friends in their late 30's and early 40's who very much believe that cruising is for pensioners only. So their marketing department certainly faces a challenge.

[Ma Bell]

Yep. I remember reading about them on here. Do you think the demographics have changed?

 

To me the average age onboard seems to be around the 58 to 60 mark. I can't believe that it's any younger than that. What was it before they started targeting a younger crowd?

 

Regardless I believe Celebrity have failed to attract their target market. Ironically, I think the poor entertainment might be a major factor here! I have many friends in their late 30's and early 40's who very much believe that cruising is for pensioners only. So their marketing department certainly faces a challenge.

 

There's a lot more to demographics than just age and they seem to be attracting a different crowd than they used to.

[jmfdr]

Agree, about five years ago they eliminated much of the entertainment around the ship. Ie: acapella groups, jazz groups, etc. that is when they went to the concept of Djs and entertainment in the foyer area. Believe that was not only a change in entertainment but also a change in desired demographics.

 

If someone does a search there were loads of complaints at the time.

 

We really miss the variety of quality live music options that used to be offered all over the ship. Very sorry that Celebrity has chosen to budget by cutting back on this. On our last Constellation cruise the DJ music blasting throughout the foyer every evening drove me crazy. We miss the relaxing piano bar in Michael's----were disappointed when that venue was designated for suite guests only.

 

How do you think the change in desired demographics influenced the change in entertainment?

[Mynki]

There's a lot more to demographics than just age and they seem to be attracting a different crowd than they used to.

 

Indeed, but I don't have an issue with a person's race, religion, sex, colour or sexual orientation. I treat everyone with equal contempt. :cool:

[TFLG]

Yep. I remember reading about them on here. Do you think the demographics have changed?

 

To me the average age onboard seems to be around the 58 to 60 mark. I can't believe that it's any younger than that. What was it before they started targeting a younger crowd?

 

Regardless I believe Celebrity have failed to attract their target market. Ironically, I think the poor entertainment might be a major factor here! I have many friends in their late 30's and early 40's who very much believe that cruising is for pensioners only. So their marketing department certainly faces a challenge.

 

 

The average age is probably the same. What's changed is the type of music the average age person likes. All of the 50-60 year olds on board now grew up in the 60s to 80s so most of them don't want to listen to chamber music or string quartets. We want to listen to 60's, 70's 80's music. The stuff we grew up listening to. So yea, a DJs make more sense now. Celebrity is not likely to attract many 30-40 year olds. I've taken my kids (20 -30 years old) on several Celebrity cruises and they are bored to tears on X. X would need some serious club style lounges with modern music and more bars to attract that age group (the ones that can afford it anyway).

 

As far as cost, I've only been cruising for about 12 years but I don't see much difference. The the ships are sure bigger and better now. Price is darn near the same as it was 12 years ago but I have a better experience now. In 2005 my first 7 day was on NCL and cost $1200pp with no perks or credits. I did a 7 day on the Equinox with 4 perk for less than that in June last year. I'm doing a 12 day Barrier Reef cruise in March with 2 perks for not much more than that 2005 cruise. Prices crashed when the economy tanked in 2008 and I think too many folks got used to those cheap prices. Demand is back and prices are too. Sorry guys but I will take today over 10 or 20 years ago.

[Ma Bell]

Indeed, but I don't have an issue with a person's race, religion, sex, colour or sexual orientation. I treat everyone with equal contempt. :cool:

 

I wasn't even thinking about any of those categories because that doesn't really enter into my assessment of the quality of a human. It's all about values and the inner quality of a person that counts.

[gerelmx]

I remember on my first cruise on board RCCL Nordic Empress 1996, embarkation buffet lunch "King Crab Legs", also at Captains night free Champagne and Caviar. Never seen this again.