A fairly new cutback that only affects a select few

[Mr&MrsBee]

18 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

Yeah, I thought maybe that was the case.  As I was posting I was mixed up in my mind, thinking I was on the Royal board.  Sorry.  But these friends of ours that I mentioned.... they'd still want to go to any lounge or event, even if they were given a drink package, because they want people to see them there and know they are "special", LOL.  On the one cruise we did with them, we went to a loyalty event at something like 10am.  We never would have dragged ourselves up and out for some free, cheap sparkling wine and snacks but they more or less insisted.  They got there super early so they could sit front and center during the little program when the most loyal cruisers are/were announced to walk up and get their free bottle of cheap champagne.   The whole time before it started they kept looking around and commenting on the size of the crowd....they clearly wanted to make sure the room was filling up and enough people would be there to hear their name called.  When the wife walked up to get the champs, you would think from her reaction that she'd just been crowned queen of the world, LOL

 

[Mr&MrsBee]

Right Bar on.  Exactly one of the reasons we no longer attend the elite cocktail hour.  No need to sit with snotty people or fat old ladies who tell you how many cruises they have been on.  Much more fun and meeting people at the Martini Bar.

[Ma Bell]

3 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

Yeah, I thought maybe that was the case.  As I was posting I was mixed up in my mind, thinking I was on the Royal board.  Sorry.  But these friends of ours that I mentioned.... they'd still want to go to any lounge or event, even if they were given a drink package, because they want people to see them there and know they are "special", LOL.  On the one cruise we did with them, we went to a loyalty event at something like 10am.  We never would have dragged ourselves up and out for some free, cheap sparkling wine and snacks but they more or less insisted.  They got there super early so they could sit front and center during the little program when the most loyal cruisers are/were announced to walk up and get their free bottle of cheap champagne.   The whole time before it started they kept looking around and commenting on the size of the crowd....they clearly wanted to make sure the room was filling up and enough people would be there to hear their name called.  When the wife walked up to get the champs, you would think from her reaction that she'd just been crowned queen of the world, LOL

Are you sure you are a friend?

[Ma Bell]

Just enjoy yourself in whichever way makes you happy and don't worry about what everyone else is getting.

 

There are a lot of nice benefits to being Zenith but we are all individual human beings with different ideas about what's important. Whatever your desires, I hope you enjoy your cruising experience. If the day comes that I can't do that any more I'll move on and enjoy the memories.

[jcpc]

1 hour ago, Ma Bell said:

Just enjoy yourself in whichever way makes you happy and don't worry about what everyone else is getting.

 

There are a lot of nice benefits to being Zenith but we are all individual human beings with different ideas about what's important. Whatever your desires, I hope you enjoy your cruising experience. If the day comes that I can't do that any more I'll move on and enjoy the memories.

Perfectly stated.  

[waterbug123]

6 hours ago, Ma Bell said:

Are you sure you are a friend?

 

ha ha, I know what you're saying.  But yes, we are friends.  Not particularly close friends but friends.  They are also clients of my BF so there's that as well.  They are generally very nice people with some very good qualities, but we do kind of roll our eyes to each other regarding their obsession with their cruise line status and the "recognition" from it that they seem to thrive on.

[phoenix_dream]

If it makes you feel any better (and I know it won't) I was the top cruiser a couple times years ago, before Zenith existed, and we never even got invited to the Captains Table.  

 

Anyway....I do agree that more and more it is clear that loyalty is no longer what it used to be with Celebrity.  It all boils down to the bucks of course.  Yes, when one cruises 200 times they, over time, spend a good amount of $$ on Celebrity.  At the same time, Celebrity almost always fills its ships these days.  So who would they prefer - someone who has cruised umpteen times but because of that doesn't buy big photo packages, no longer wants to spend $$ on specialty restaurants as they are no longer a unique experience to them, no longer needs or wants any more jewelry or other souvenirs, knows better than to spend a lot on ship's shore excursions versus local, won't spend as much in the casino per cruise as it would break the bank and so on ...…………..or...……..someone who cruises less often and will in fact spend money on those things?  As long as they continue to fill their cabins, they want someone whose spend per cruise is higher.  That is generally (albeit of course not always) not the case with Zeniths or higher level Elite Plus like us.  

[Hlitner]

We are always amazed at what some folks find very important.  DW reminded me of a time (on Celebrity) when we declined an invitation to the Captain's table for the simple reason that we enjoyed our regular table :).  The Hostess was kind of shocked and told us that it was very rare for anyone to say "no."  Many years ago we did the same thing on RCCL (now called RCI) because we were traveling with another couple who were on their first cruise.  When invited to the Captain's table we said "no" because we were not going to leave our friends dining along (we had a table of 4).  The result was that they also invited our friends to join us at the Captain's table :).  But this was in an era when the Captain (and many senior officers) dined many nights in the MDR.  Now, many Captains (and their staff) avoid this task as much as possible.    

 

Hank

[PhoenixCruiser]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We are always amazed at what some folks find very important.  DW reminded me of a time (on Celebrity) when we declined an invitation to the Captain's table for the simple reason that we enjoyed our regular table :).  The Hostess was kind of shocked and told us that it was very rare for anyone to say "no."  Many years ago we did the same thing on RCCL (now called RCI) because we were traveling with another couple who were on their first cruise.  When invited to the Captain's table we said "no" because we were not going to leave our friends dining along (we had a table of 4).  The result was that they also invited our friends to join us at the Captain's table :).  But this was in an era when the Captain (and many senior officers) dined many nights in the MDR.  Now, many Captains (and their staff) avoid this task as much as possible.    

 

Hank

 

We declined once on Royal because we had reservations at a specialty restaurant and didn't feel like dressing up for formal night.

[Hlitner]

10 minutes ago, PhoenixCruiser said:

 

We declined once on Royal because we had reservations at a specialty restaurant and didn't feel like dressing up for formal night.

I should have mentioned that there is one Captain in the industry who we would gladly join for breakfast, lunch or dinner .  He is Captain Demitrius Kafetzis who might be the funniest man (and true gentleman) we have ever met.  We once told Captain Demitrius that if he lost his job as a Captain he would do fine as the star of the Tonight Show.  And of course he agreed :).  He has always treated us well even though we are not Greek (his fans/friends will understand this comment).

 

Hank

[phoenix_dream]

20 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We are always amazed at what some folks find very important.  DW reminded me of a time (on Celebrity) when we declined an invitation to the Captain's table for the simple reason that we enjoyed our regular table :).  The Hostess was kind of shocked and told us that it was very rare for anyone to say "no."  Many years ago we did the same thing on RCCL (now called RCI) because we were traveling with another couple who were on their first cruise.  When invited to the Captain's table we said "no" because we were not going to leave our friends dining along (we had a table of 4).  The result was that they also invited our friends to join us at the Captain's table :).  But this was in an era when the Captain (and many senior officers) dined many nights in the MDR.  Now, many Captains (and their staff) avoid this task as much as possible.    

 

Hank

I don't think it's that anyone finds one single thing very important.  IMHO it's more the fact that more and more little things seem to be falling by the wayside.  The current CEO has made it very clear that what is important to her is to gear the line towards making the suite life sweeter, and concentrating all the benefits in that direction and more or less the heck with the rest of the group - trying to take away as much as is possible, one little thing at a time and hoping people don't notice - or new cruisers don't know.  Many of those of us who have sailed on Celebrity many, many times for years and years and helped make the brand such a success feel like we are being devalued.  

[C 2 C]

On 6/3/2019 at 4:07 PM, Covepointcruiser said:

Sounds like the top cruiser will still get a free dinner on Celebrity.    The officers now dine with passengers in a Specialty Restaurant.    The officer always pays for drinks and an excellent wine.    The top Zenith folks are now receiving free extra premium wines and an audience with an officer.    I am certainly not Zenith (have a life outside of cruising) but I don’t see this as a negative change.

Not in over a year...  Top cruisers will get a dining experience with an officer, usually with others in Blu for lunch.  Those passengers are most likely top suite occupants who really pay for the experience now.. 😉