The Celebrity Beyond & Beyond: If You Were CEO, What Would You Do?

[vtcruising]

As most know, in addition to The Edge and the Apex (will be delivered in March, 2020), there are three more ships planned for the Edge Class. The Celebrity Beyond is scheduled to be delivered in the Fall of 2021, Edge IV (name TBD, but I have seen the name "Celebrity Element" in a couple of places) in the Fall of 2022, Edge V (name TBD, but I have seen "Celebrity Venus" in a couple of places) in 2024. Other names are trademarked by Celebrity, such as Luxe, Pinnacle, Opus and Elegance and could be used instead (or something totally different), so the names remain to be seen.

 

It was revealed recently that the last 3 ships in this class will be bigger than the Edge and Apex. The size would increase about 8% and would be larger than S Class ships. They will have a section added (about 68 feet longer than Edge/Apex - all 5 ships would be the same width). In addition to more cabins (and likely public areas), it reportedly will allow space to integrate generators to run on liquefied natural gas, as well as the addition of an LNG storage tank. Supposedly the LNG wouldn't be used for propulsion, but could be used to supply the ship when it is docked, to help limit pollution in ports.   

 

The size of the present X ships:

M Class (there are slight differences in the ships):

tonnage:         90,280

length:              964 ft

beam (width): 105 ft

cabins:            1065 - 1109

passengers:   2206 - 2647

guest-space ratio:      34-35

 

S Class (there are differences in ships, so this is the range):

tonnage:   121,878 - 125,366

length: 1041-1047 ft

beam (width): 121-123 ft

cabins: 1425-1523

passengers: 2850-3655

guest-space ratio: 34-36

 

Edge/Apex:

tonnage:   129,500

length: 1004 ft

beam (width): 128 ft

cabins: 1467

passengers: 2918-3373

guest-space ratio: 38

 

The reported plan for the Beyond and other 2 future Edge Class ships:

tonnage:   140,600 (~8% bigger)

length: 1072 ft

beam (width): 128 ft

cabins: ~ 1600

passengers: estimated (by me) 3182 - 3678 (~ 8% more passengers)

guest-space ratio: 38

 

(the lower number for passengers is double occupancy and the higher number is maximum number of passengers - space ratio used maximum number of passengers)

 

When the larger Edge Class ships were revealed, a number of people here didn't want to see bigger Celebrity ships and many were hoping for changes from the Edge and Apex in the 3 remaining Edge Class ships. Taking into consideration the Edge design and the Revolution changes, what would you like to see for the Celebrity Beyond and beyond? I tried to limit the changes in this particular poll to space design, not decor changes.

 

If I looked at it as the CEO, taking CC feedback that we have seen from the Edge and the Revolution (both positive and negative), I can see things that should be thought about to retain current loyal  X cruisers, as well as entice future cruisers. I think both can be done on these new ships. I am hoping for more distinction between the remaining 3 ships, to make each one a destination of its own, while keeping some sort of Edge Class theme to tie the ships into one class.  I don't think I would mind the size increasing 8%, but would hate to see it much larger. Maybe they will add a 3rd elevator bank with the addition of 68 more feet to walk from the aft. I also think there will be more of an option for an extra lounge and other interesting public spaces. I am looking forward to seeing how these ships develop, though not looking forward to seeing the prices! 😉

 

Edited June 30, 2019 by vtcruising

[hcat]

Vt ...you have been busy, great job!

You hit all my wish list items,..wine bar, gastro pub, true Elite Lounge, book nook, better balc furn etc.. 

PLUS  more shade and wind protection in outdoor public areas,

 

REPLACE  Hoppen with a designer who has actually cruised and is less into NO FRILLS dorm rooms with silly pillows! Give us some modern luxury!

[vtcruising]

56 minutes ago, hcat said:

Vt ...you have been busy, great job!

You hit all my wish list items,..wine bar, gastro pub, true Elite Lounge, book nook, better balc furn etc.. 

PLUS  more shade and wind protection in outdoor public areas,

 

REPLACE  Hoppen with a designer who has actually cruised and is less into NO FRILLS dorm rooms with silly pillows! Give us some modern luxury!

I should have added "3rd elevator" as a choice - we love the aft cabins and if they are making the ships 68 feet longer, another elevator would be nice.  The glass elevators would be nice, with a view of the Martini Bar as you go down.

 

I am also really hoping for a Wine Bar - they really didn't have a good place for wine tasting events on the Edge and only did Blendtique (and the CC one). A cozy place for trying nice wines and a small stage for some mellow live music would be wonderful.

 

I also still have my fingers crossed for a Book Nook with a couple of windows and a better view in Blu, in case I want to try AQ sometime.

 

[TXranchgal]

Really would like to see 3 elevator areas.  Front, Mid Ship and Aft. 

It would make all of the cabins at the aft of the ship more desirable.  

An Elite only lounge would be nice.  There are so many of us now that we could fill an entire lounge.

[Denny01]

Wow, What a great job VtCruising! Outstanding choices. I personally enjoy the Infinite Veranda style but agree need more room for a decent table to enjoy breakfast as an addition. There are so many ships, including all other Celebrity Class ships with standard Verandas, so I voted to keep the high percentage of Infinite style.

 

As for the other options, would love increased shade on the top deck and a bow lounge. And would Love a M-class style T-Spa pool! Glad most all agree not to go back to a large MDR and stick with the current 4 design. Love that, and they are so much quieter. 

 

Again, VTCruising, you have gone beyond the call and this is impressive. Celebrity needs to contact you and offer you a job of coordinating inputs from us......I don’t think I’ve seen a thread so well thought out and researched. 

 

Den

[Mynki]

Due to the ships design is it realistic to envisage the removal of IV cabins? Wouldn't the last three E class ships need to be redesigned in order to replace IV's with traditional balcony rooms? 

That said, when looking at the amount of IV cabins available on Edge on sailings leaving in the next few weeks, it's clear they have not been a massive hit. At least not at their current price points, so I assume they will look at the whole IV concept. 

Keep bumping this thread to get as many votes as possible. :)

[DrKoob]

If I were CEO of Celebrity, I would cancel the remaining three ships and go back to the drawing board or dust off the old plans for an S class ship. If you have been around long enough to remember when Solstice was launched, the excitement was huge and after the ships sailed, the reaction was outstanding. Mainly because the Solstice ships were built based on keeping the current X customer base happy rather than to be attracting new customers. Every S Class ship was better and more anticipated. Obviously (based on the way Edge is selling) they really blew it this time. 

 

For us, Elite Plus cruisers with more than 20 X cruises, we are done. One more booked and that will be it other than a quick Pacific Coastal from time to time. Off to someplace else that gets what we like and values their current customer base. It's just sad.

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, Mynki said:

Due to the ships design is it realistic to envisage the removal of IV cabins? Wouldn't the last three E class ships need to be redesigned in order to replace IV's with traditional balcony rooms? 

That is the million (? billion) dollar question. I think that if the IVs do not sell well they will have to do a redesign of some sort. I have wondered if they can add traditional veranda cabins between the traditional suite verandas and not ruin the look of the ship, but have no idea if that is possible.

 

For example, these two pictures show deck 9 with IV's in some sections and traditional suite verandas in other areas. Maybe they could add some sections of traditional verandas on 9 in place of sections of IV's, as well as some on 10, 11, 12, next to the suites to maintain the lines of the ship.  They could do some AQ and Concierge traditional verandas and charge more for those. With the extra section added, they could potentially add quite a few, if they wanted (at least I'm guessing they could). If they can't mix it up, they may have to go back to the drawing board and redesign the ship to provide more traditional verandas.

 

 

 

[vtcruising]

51 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

If I were CEO of Celebrity, I would cancel the remaining three ships and go back to the drawing board or dust off the old plans for an S class ship. If you have been around long enough to remember when Solstice was launched, the excitement was huge and after the ships sailed, the reaction was outstanding. Mainly because the Solstice ships were built based on keeping the current X customer base happy rather than to be attracting new customers. Every S Class ship was better and more anticipated. Obviously (based on the way Edge is selling) they really blew it this time. 

 

For us, Elite Plus cruisers with more than 20 X cruises, we are done. One more booked and that will be it other than a quick Pacific Coastal from time to time. Off to someplace else that gets what we like and values their current customer base. It's just sad.

I see where you  are coming from, but as much as I like the S Class ships, there are some things that I don't like (and I'm not sure the Revolution will fix those). I really like the direction of the Edge - it is fresh and bold (and I am in the older crowd). I had a totally different experience on the Edge than the S Class and loved the overall feel of the ship, though am aware of her shortcomings. 

 

I think that they need to head in a different direction than S Class, but should continue to make these ships attractive to the loyals, as well as the newbies. I think that can be done, if they listen to the feedback. The Edge was the first stab - they got some things very right and some things very wrong, but hopefully, with all the feedback, the designs will improve with the last three and they will become Modern Luxury, if they want to stick with that branding. I really like having the choice of the Edge Class (unique and exciting, with new things to see and do, but familiar in many ways, such as excellent service, Cafe al Bacio, great OVC, etc.), though we will also continue to sail on the S and M Class (which have always been relaxing and enjoyable).

Edited July 1, 2019 by vtcruising

[vtcruising]

10 hours ago, TXranchgal said:

Really would like to see 3 elevator areas.  Front, Mid Ship and Aft. 

It would make all of the cabins at the aft of the ship more desirable.  

I would love to see it too - wonder if it will be possible - it would take up a lot of the new space on each deck. I might lose my Wine Bar or Book Nook. 😉

[mnocket]

I responded to the question as asked... i.e. from the perspective of the CEO.  If you had asked for my personal opinion my responses would have been completely different.  I'm not sure why you posed the question from the CEO's perspective, but I suspect what you actually got was a mixture of responses - some from a CEO's perspective and some from a personal perspective.

[vtcruising]

20 minutes ago, mnocket said:

I responded to the question as asked... i.e. from the perspective of the CEO.  If you had asked for my personal opinion my responses would have been completely different.  I'm not sure why you posed the question from the CEO's perspective, but I suspect what you actually got was a mixture of responses - some from a CEO's perspective and some from a personal perspective.

Good point. I originally didn't have the CEO part in the title, but I thought about what it might be like to make decisions that balanced the bottom line with guest desires, since it is easy to just check off everything and not think about the business realities.

 

I checked a lot of my personal wants, but also checked some because of the number of complaints about some things on the Edge. One example is shade - we don't choose shady places onboard, but it seems like a huge problem on the Edge and the Revolutionized ships, so thinking like a CEO, I chose it. We don't need accessibility now (but who knows when we will), but that seems to be an issue on the Edge - it needs to be changed - it wouldn't be one of my priorities to benefit me now personally, but as CEO, it would be. It may have skewed the answers a bit, but I suspect that the majority of people mostly checked what they wanted to see (as I did), just as LLP likely put some of her personal preferences into the Edge. 🙂

Edited July 1, 2019 by vtcruising

[Mynki]

2 hours ago, vtcruising said:

That is the million (? billion) dollar question. I think that if the IVs do not sell well they will have to do a redesign of some sort. I have wondered if they can add traditional veranda cabins between the traditional suite verandas and not ruin the look of the ship, but have no idea if that is possible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sat in my office it's easy to say add traditional balconies in to the mix as well as the IV's for those that like them. But like everyone else on here I have no idea what the engineering implications are in that instance.

 

The only thing I do know is that the design will only change if sales are impacted enough to make them rethink the whole IV concept. Time will tell....

 

As for posts referring to the view of a CEO, I think it's a moot point. A CEO has access to all kinds of data to help them make decisions. As cruise critic members we don't know what the target sales figures are for E class ships and how they're doing against their targets and never really will. 

 

I personally dislike the IV design, but if sales data showed it to be a success in my roll as CEO I'd be delighted. 

If Beyond and future E class ships do end up with a combination of IV and traditional balconies you'll be able to work out which are most popular within days or weeks of new itineraries going on sale. I know what I'd have my money on though. :) 

[vtcruising]

19 minutes ago, Mynki said:

As for posts referring to the view of a CEO, I think it's a moot point. A CEO has access to all kinds of data to help them make decisions. As cruise critic members we don't know what the target sales figures are for E class ships and how they're doing against their targets and never really will. 

 

Very true. I still think it is interesting to see what people think they would do if they were CEO (with what limited info we have). Not scientific, but good discussion. I appreciate your point of view since you usually think of something I haven't. 🙂

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I think a third set of elevators is a necessity, particularly if they lengthen the ships.  To me, that was one of the fails of the S class.  Love those corner aft SSs, but hate the walk.

 

I don't see a library returning anytime soon.  It doesn't produce revenue.  If you're the CEO, you're all about producing revenue.

 

And they really need a designer who is not all about his/her ego.  Preferably one who has cruised several times and understands what people who cruise want.  One who understands that good design is form follows function.  Chairs need to be able to be pushed under the desk.  Adequate space to hang clothes.  People who spend a mint to sail in the penthouse don't expect to be offered milk cartons to sit on.  I think it's abundantly clear that people value a real table on their balcony.  Those child-size chairs in the retreat lounge are beyond ridiculous.  Lamps by the bedside that one can use to read in bed and switch off from bed.  Celebrity already had those.  Why they got "improved" into nonfunctionality is beyond me.  Yes, good on adding outlets by the beds.  They did some things right.

[Mynki]

42 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

Very true. I still think it is interesting to see what people think they would do if they were CEO (with what limited info we have). Not scientific, but good discussion. I appreciate your point of view since you usually think of something I haven't. 🙂

It is interesting. It's also interesting to see how different pax have different perspectives of X and what is important to some people and not others. But if we were playing a cruise critic game of what changes we'd make without any hard data to base them on I'd (Bet you wish you never replied now - lol) :-

 

Rebrand. I'd change the name 'Celebrity X' to simply 'X'. What relevance or importance is the word 'Celebrity' these days anyway? 

 

Dining is important to us both, so I'd change the menus annually. I was told by a Blu maitre 'd not too long ago that they used to have the same menu for around five years. This is a bit of a joke really. What do the people in Miami responsible for menus actually do all day? On a personal note I think it's a bit boring when you can almost remember what dishes will be served on a particular day of your cruise. This applies to the MDR, Blu, Luminae and all specialty restaurants. 

 

Empower the head chefs more. Currently they only have some influence over what food is served in the OV cafe and the crew restaurants. Give them the opportunity to focus on more local and seasonal produce for the buffet at least. I'm sure they're more than capable. 

 

Increase the number of wine and spirit offerings. There doesn't have to be a cost element here, but for example include scotches from all scotch whisky regions so the pax have more choice. This applies to wines too. The classic beverage package is limiting after all. 

 

Alternate Sushi on 5 and include Bistro on 5 and Taj on 5 (Indian) giving diners more choices in a venue that is regularly under utilised. 

 

Employ more bar staff. Service is simply slow to unacceptable in some Celebrity bars. Pony up and add more staff. The addition of two or three sommeliers in the MDR would not go amiss either. 

 

Improve the food quality drastically. In Blu a few weeks ago I was served American cheese slices (The stuff added to cheeseburgers at McDonalds) at breakfast in Blu. Would LLP class that as 'Modern Luxury'? Really? As I've said before the beef is obviously poor quality too and could easily be improved along with many other ingredients they now use. 

 

Scrap Tuscan Grill and replace it with a real steakhouse. On S class ships it has a great location. Let the quality of the meals serve there match it's location. On M class ships either also replace it with a genuine steakhouse or revert back to Murano. I appreciate there is a conflict on Silhouette and Reflection here with the lawn club grille etc. 

 

Fire the individual responsible for entertainment across the fleet and completely change everything. The CEO has to appeal to longstanding loyal X customers as well attract newbies on account of the former dying off weekly. There isn't a particularly diplomatic way to word that but you know what I mean. I don't believe the current entertainment will appeal to many younger cruises and I regularly read complaints from seasoned X cruisers who think it's poor too. So I believe wholesale changes need to be made here. 

Reduce the amount of tacky revenue seeking 'entertainment' and replace it with something the majority might actually enjoy. 

Rethink the itineraries. As one example I'd love to see 14 day Caribbean trips back rather than the really dull 7 night offerings we see offered on Edge, Apex and Equinox right now. 

 

I could go on to include the increased style over substance in the staterooms we appear to be seeing but that's a huge topic in itself. :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by Mynki

[vtcruising]

2 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I think a third set of elevators is a necessity, particularly if they lengthen the ships.  To me, that was one of the fails of the S class.  Love those corner aft SSs, but hate the walk.

 

I don't see a library returning anytime soon.  It doesn't produce revenue.  If you're the CEO, you're all about producing revenue.

 

And they really need a designer who is not all about his/her ego.  Preferably one who has cruised several times and understands what people who cruise want.  One who understands that good design is form follows function.  Chairs need to be able to be pushed under the desk.  Adequate space to hang clothes.  People who spend a mint to sail in the penthouse don't expect to be offered milk cartons to sit on.  I think it's abundantly clear that people value a real table on their balcony.  Those child-size chairs in the retreat lounge are beyond ridiculous.  Lamps by the bedside that one can use to read in bed and switch off from bed.  Celebrity already had those.  Why they got "improved" into nonfunctionality is beyond me.  Yes, good on adding outlets by the beds.  They did some things right.

I agree about the elevators - the M Class ships are smaller and have 3 sets. I haven't minded the aft walk on S Class over the years, but starting to slow down  ....🙂

 

I agree - I don't think they will put a traditional library in because it goes against the image of being modern, focusing on technology, etc., but I am hoping they will compromise and put in a nook with a couple of windows where we can read paper books, kindles, use our ipads, laptops, iphones, whatever. I envision a fairly small area with comfortable seats/small tables, charging availability and shelves for a book exchange. Maybe they could leave some ILounge brochures, with available tech items for sale and Wi-Fi packages in a rack in there and make a little money too. 🙂

 

And don't get me started on the decor issues - I left it out of the poll, mostly because most of those things can be fixed eventually (and most don't affect the build, though storage does). I think they will be very, very careful when furnishing the next ship after the almost unanimous reactions from Edge and Revolution guests. 🙂

[vtcruising]

3 minutes ago, Mynki said:

It is interesting. It's also interesting to see how different pax have different perspectives of X and what is important to some people and not others. But if we were playing a cruise critic game of what changes we'd make without any hard data to base them on I'd (Bet you wish you never replied now - lol) :-

 

Rebrand. I'd change the name 'Celebrity X' to simply 'X'. What relevance or importance is the word 'Celebrity' these days anyway? 

 

Dining is important to us both, so I'd change the menus annually. I was told by a Blu maitre 'd not too long ago that they used to have the same menu for around five years. This is a bit of a joke really. What do the people in Miami responsible for menus actually do all day? On a personal note I think it's a bit boring when you can almost remember what dishes will be served on a particular day of your cruise. This applies to the MDR, Blu, Luminae and all specialty restaurants. 

 

Empower the head chefs more. Currently they only have some influence over what food is served in the OV cafe and the crew restaurants. Give them the opportunity to focus on more local and seasonal produce for the buffet at least. I'm sure they're more than capable. 

 

Increase the number of wine and spirit offerings. There doesn't have to be a cost element here, but for example include scotches from all scotch whisky regions so the pax have more choice. This applies to wines too. The classic beverage package is limiting after all. 

 

Alternate Sushi on 5 and include Bistro on 5 and Taj on 5 (Indian) giving diners more choices in a venue that is regularly under utilised. 

 

Employ more bar staff. Service is simply slow to unacceptable in some Celebrity bars. Pony up and add more staff. The addition of two or three sommeliers in the MDR would not go amiss either. 

 

Improve the food quality drastically. In Blu a few weeks ago I was served American cheese slices (The stuff added to cheeseburgers at McDonalds) at breakfast in Blu. Would LLP class that as 'Modern Luxury'? Really? As I've said before the beef is obviously poor quality too and could easily be improved along with many other ingredients they now use. 

 

Scrap Tuscan Grill and replace it with a real steakhouse. On S class ships it has a great location. Let the quality of the meals serve there match it's location. On M class ships either also replace it with a genuine steakhouse or revert back to Murano. I appreciate there is a conflict on Silhouette and Reflection here with the lawn club grille etc. 

 

Fire the individual responsible for entertainment across the fleet and completely change everything. The CEO has to appeal to longstanding loyal X customers as well attract newbies on account of the former dying off weekly. There isn't a particularly diplomatic way to word that but you know what I mean. I don't believe the current entertainment will appeal to many younger cruises and I regularly read complaints from seasoned X cruisers who think it's poor too. So I believe wholesale changes need to be made here. 

Reduce the amount of tacky revenue seeking 'entertainment' and replace it with something the majority might actually enjoy. 

Rethink the itineraries. As one example I'd love to see 14 day Caribbean trips back rather than the really dull 7 night offerings we see offered on Edge, Apex and Equinox right now. 

 

I could go on..... 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't disagree with much of what you laid out here, especially the menus, beef quality, Tuscan, entertainment and wine and spirits (and interesting idea about a name change). Hopefully, they aren't too busy with the Revolution and new ships to look at addressing these issues as well.

[Denny01]

Most of our suggestions, including mine, are about brining in venues of M- and S-Class. Just as S-Class was trashed for various non M-Class inclusions, this is the future. Both other classes remain and E-Class will be, hopefully, improved but the basic/main approach will remain......change. It’s tough.

 

Edit: I think one reason we don’t see some of our favorite items from M- or S-Class brought over is that way, we’ll keep going on those Class ships to enjoy the differences. If S-Class had the M-Class T-Spa pool I think I’d only go on M-Class if the itinerary was the thing I wanted. This way, I see a decadent M-Class cruise, envision laying in the T-Spa and jump on it!

 

Areas such as the library are long gone. the 2 or 3 people who I saw sitting in the last real library on M-Class (and older) will somehow find another venue. the Large single MDR is gone, and for me good riddance and is being removed from many cruise line ships. Celebrity E-Class continues to have numerous separate common areas which then gives the feel of a smaller number aboard. I enjoyed the E-Class and will sail on them once the itineraries line up more and the price drops more. 

 

One area I saw that wasn’t mentioned was replacing a few of the top-end shops with less expensive sales shops. I realize we’ve been overdone with the $10 watches, but the $500 watch and $800 purses get a bit tiring. Yup, I know, go ashore and shop. And I’m not suggesting a Dollar General, just something a bit less expensive. 

 

If I was CEO? I’d add an executive office on each of the X ships and move from one to another to another. Of course only to keep direct touch with the customer and the crew......yeah right. 

 

Den

 

 

Edited July 1, 2019 by Denny01

[C-Dragons]

LLP has already said that Edge and Apex will be twins. Apex was originally supposed to be named Beyond, but as Lisa has explained, the third ship in the class was going to be larger and “different” from the first two, going “beyond” them, hence the name changes. I am not convinced that there will be IV's on Beyond, especially since it is supposed to be different from Edge and Apex. This would be a positive move, imo, since there seems to be a love/hate relationship with the IV's. By adding a more “traditional” ship (with verandas) to the E class, X would be offering an additional choice to their clients, which is a good thing.

[Mynki]

43 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

I can't disagree with much of what you laid out here, especially the menus, beef quality, Tuscan, entertainment and wine and spirits (and interesting idea about a name change). Hopefully, they aren't too busy with the Revolution and new ships to look at addressing these issues as well.

The 'Revolution'...

Clearly their marketing department don't have a very good grasp of the English language. Millennium and Summit are nearly 20 years old. As far as most non suite pax are concerned they've simply tarted up a few bits of the ships and done some much needed work in the cabins in an attempt to keep them modern when compared to the competition. 

 

Suite class is a different kettle of fish though. I've seen the creation and evolution of suite class and I do think they've done a good job there. As I said on here well before Edge was announced the suite class experience on M and S class ships was fragmented as they'd had to take Michael's Club and a big chunk of the MDR away from every passenger whereas starting from scratch they can create an area encompassing suite amenities in one area in a more attractive part of the ship. But still not a 'revolution'. Other lines have done similar before. It's not even a new concept! 

I'll now don my snarky, cynics hat and add that ss CEO I'd either replace the marketing department or send them for a reality check and high school English lessons to stop them using ridiculous names like 'Celebrity Revolution' or quotes such as "the game-changing Celebrity Edge".  It's a mass market cruise ship. What is actually "game changing" about it? A window you can open and close? Some orange scaffolding attached to the side of the ship? Bartnders who can climb a ladder to snip fresh herbs into your drink? 

Doesn't matter I'm not CEO. LLP is and she will soon have to fill an additional 15,000 + beds daily when all five E class ships are finally in service. That's no easy task for sure and how you do this is worthy of a completely separate thread IMHO. When you consider that Costa Cruises and MSC are all adding additional mega ships to their fleets with up to 6,000 pax per vessel I think she has a monumental task ahead of her. With current E class pricing I'm really not sure how successful the E class ships will be until pricing softens. Does she take the fleet back to where it once was offering a more upscale experience and take on the likes of Azamara, Oceania or even the upcoming Ritz Carlton line etc or does she continue to try peddling faux luxury and hope for the best? 

[TeeRick]

5 hours ago, DrKoob said:

If I were CEO of Celebrity, I would cancel the remaining three ships and go back to the drawing board or dust off the old plans for an S class ship. If you have been around long enough to remember when Solstice was launched, the excitement was huge and after the ships sailed, the reaction was outstanding. Mainly because the Solstice ships were built based on keeping the current X customer base happy rather than to be attracting new customers. Every S Class ship was better and more anticipated. Obviously (based on the way Edge is selling) they really blew it this time. 

 

For us, Elite Plus cruisers with more than 20 X cruises, we are done. One more booked and that will be it other than a quick Pacific Coastal from time to time. Off to someplace else that gets what we like and values their current customer base. It's just sad.

Dear DrKoob,

I do understand your points as a fellow Elite Plus.  We do not want to believe this hard truth-  but why would Celebrity invest $billions$ for 5 new ships just to make them attractive to their current loyal customers? This level of investment is to attract new customers to cruising and to Celebrity.  If they lose a few of us (but attract a lot more of them) they win.  By the way we cost more to Celebrity in the perks they provide to us loyal cruisers vs new cruisers.  It is a hard pill to swallow for some of us.  But your answer to move on to someplace else to meet your personal cruise or vacation values is always the right answer for any individual.  But some will (and have already) adapted to the new version of Celebrity. 

[TeeRick]

Thanks Marilyn for taking the time to put this together.  I have a few inclusions to the "other" list.  I would like loose slots in the casino so my wife would be happy.  I would like to finally find the elusive VW hippie van in the Retreat.  I would like a live interpreter for the Eden show.  I would like them to dedicate the full 8% on the later expanded E-Class ships to the addition of the old M-Class specialty restaurants that they dumped in favor of Tuscan Grille. 

[vtcruising]

2 hours ago, Denny01 said:

One area I saw that wasn’t mentioned was replacing a few of the top-end shops with less expensive sales shops. I realize we’ve been overdone with the $10 watches, but the $500 watch and $800 purses get a bit tiring. Yup, I know, go ashore and shop. And I’m not suggesting a Dollar General, just something a bit less expensive. 

 

If I was CEO? I’d add an executive office on each of the X ships and move from one to another to another. Of course only to keep direct touch with the customer and the crew......yeah right. 

 

Good idea with the shops! I could only choose 20 answers so had to give up some. Another one that didn't make the cut was "no Magic Carpet" which would have been interesting.

 

The office onboard is a nice idea, but you talk about an angry mob .... they might burn poor Kelly in effigy! 😉

[vtcruising]

38 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Thanks Marilyn for taking the time to put this together.  I have a few inclusions to the "other" list.  I would like loose slots in the casino so my wife would be happy.  I would like to finally find the elusive VW hippie van in the Retreat.  I would like a live interpreter for the Eden show.  I would like them to dedicate the full 8% on the later expanded E-Class ships to the addition of the old M-Class specialty restaurants that they dumped in favor of Tuscan Grille. 

I would vote for all of those!

 

Loose slots are always welcome - it would be win-win, because I would spend it on another cruise.

 

Maybe the Apex will have the hippie van - can't wait to find out.

 

The Eden show sounds more athletic now and less out there, but I'm with you - I didn't know what was going on....

 

Every time I think of those restaurants on the M Class that were torn out, I choke up. I'm all for cutting edge, new venues, but those restaurants were so special. It is one of the reasons that we rarely sail on M Class (just have done our Flower Power charters and will likely do Alaska on the Millie) - we like specialty restaurants and don't care for Tuscan much and Qsine is now LPC on most and I've done it 4 times already. 

Edited July 1, 2019 by vtcruising