L L-P's answers are here... and are generally missing the point

[C 2 C]

4 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

Disappointed that she is so tone deaf.......  

What?  A little louder please.  I did not get an answer.

 

[UnorigionalName]

1 hour ago, MJSailors said:

          Perhaps I was naive in thinking that questions I posted about the new (failed?) design elements of the Edgification of the Celebrity ships would have been directly answered with sufficient explanation you the Celebrity CEO.

From Ms Lutoff’s reply to my post and others following,I understand that the design is what it is,but any changes to a design flaw ,possibly based on passengers’ feedback,will be part of the construction budget and, I assume, will not be directly 

passed on to an increase in cruise fares. At least, not for now.

            I read a few of Ms. Lutoff’s replies on the forum and realized that she,or some assistant, is echoing the company’s line on various Celebrity initiatives, programs and business policies . Not surprising really.

             The apparent attempt of Ms Lutoff to reach CC members was a publicity idea that at worst went bad, or at least, seemingly, missed its purpose.

Unless ,and this is a hopeful thought, ideas and opinions written  by the participating CC posters on the forum may be considered by the CEO and Celebrity execs as they make decisions going forward. As I noted ,this is hopeful thinking.

 

I understand you are disappointed  at the changes.   I think you have to step back and don't allow emotions to overwhelm you.  This is about a cruising for leisure for goodness sake. 

 

First off, I am actually quite surprised that LLC responded to your "question" (which was really more of a single-sided rant with mostly demands instead of questions) at all.  Usually in these types of Q&A's they would just ignore these obviously hostile questions.  So the fact you got any response at all is pretty above the norm.

 

If you read her response to you, it is pretty clear that it was a full response.  Basically 1) the feedback from the design style of the Edge so far has been at least above expectation.  So no, they don't feel it is a "fail" 2) If you have specific issues, they are considering individual items on an ongoing basis.  They probably don't quite have enough data yet on the revolution or don't want to disclose it publicly on this small forum (It has major implications on stocks and this probably would not be a good place to disclose it). 

 

I understand there are many things you may miss, but more people may be glad that they have changed.  So if a lot of people give feedback on certain items, I am sure they are willing to look into it, but look into it doesn't always mean to change.

Edited August 12, 2019 by UnorigionalName

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I'm still trying to figure out where the thousand foot stools are stored on each ship that will be available if I just ask my cabin attendant for one.

[Eastern flygirl]

I can’t see LLP’s postings, can someone please direct me.

thanks in advance for your help.

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, alwaysonaship said:

So what’s the point of this. If she is in charge she should answer the questions

Sorry you and/others may have missed My point.

 

The point is, in a forum like this, we are only going to get so much info and direct input to almost 'singular' situations are bound to be disappointed and become disconnected to the responses.

 

This is a corporation providing service to a world wide audience, an audience with differing needs, wants and desires. To expect a 'definitive' response to these questions are totally not realistic. To expect her to pass on the thoughts from the posts and figure out if they are 'realistic' or can be implemented to some degree is the reality and nothing more.

 

If one expected LLP to provide direct and definitive answers to most of the questions asked, then it is on those who want such.

 

If someone knows of any other large corporations such as RCCL who can and will do this please post their names and the last time it happened.

 

I only expected her to read, listen and provide the best input for the situation for the questions/complaints being asked and nothing less. Which I believe she did.

 

A major way to effect the change you want is essentially through the comment cards or voting with your cash or hammer it home while sailing.

 

Nothing more or nothing less.

 

bon voyage

Edited August 13, 2019 by Bo1953

[CHEZMARYLOU]

2 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Sorry you and/others have missed the point.

 

The point is, in a forum like this we are only to get so much info and direct input to almost 'singular' situations are bound to be disappointed and become disconnected to the responses.

 

This is a corporation providing service to a world wide audience, an audience with differing needs, wants and desires. To expect a 'definitive' response to these questions are totally not realistic. To expect her to pass on the thoughts from the posts and figure out if they are 'realistic' or can be implemented to some degree is the reality and nothing more.

 

If one expected LLP to provide direct and definitive answers to most of the questions asked, then it is on those who want such.

 

If someone knows of any other large corporations such as RCCL who can and will do this please post their names and the last time it happened.

 

I only expected her to read, listen and provide the best input for the situation for the questions/complaints being asked and nothing less. Which I believe she did.

 

bon voyage

I usually agree with you but in this case I have to wonder what was the point of this exercise in futility? Do we know anything today that we did not know yesterday? A lot of the issues were not singular, they were global in Celebrity's world. If Celebrity was not willing to provide some substantive answers then they should have stayed in the Miami headquarters.

[cgolf1]

Reading this thread first, I expected her answers to be awful. After reading many of them, I think she answered more directly than I would have expected. Honestly I think people’s expectations were too high, expecting her to give detailed answers to all the questions. I don’t think in a competitive industry she can just lay out their business plan in a public forum. 

 

We are are new to Celebrity and have really liked what we have seen onboard the Edge and we are looking forward to our cruise on the Apex. I think we are one of the few on the boards that really like what we see. 

 

Had we been long time Celebrity  cruisers our opinions may differ about the recent changes. We have similar opinions about Disney that new cruisers to that line don’t understand. So I can empathize with many when your favorite line goes through big changes. 

[Iamcruzin]

3 hours ago, hcat said:

The have a great day thing should have been skipped.Too folksy.

 

Some of the responses were more helpful than others, but I believe each post was read and considered by someone at X and passed along someplace,

 

Happy for Gerelmx... now has someone to contact at One Touch.....

I am hoping the Breast Cancer awareness event may be restored......

.

Definitely printing out the footstool response...  hoping for 2 on our upcoming EDGE cruise..Sunset Veranda...who knows..maybe loungers too!

 

So......They take away the footstools only to keep them in storage???? Sounds like B.S. to me. Please let us know how it works out but I suspect that I already know.

[UnorigionalName]

5 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

So......They take away the footstools only to keep them in storage???? Sounds like B.S. to me. Please let us know how it works out but I suspect that I already know.

 

58 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

I'm still trying to figure out where the thousand foot stools are stored on each ship that will be available if I just ask my cabin attendant for one.

 

I mean, how many people are going to ask for footstools?  Probably a pretty small amount.  Probably pretty easy to store enough in a small something.

 

Probably overall saves a lot of money by not buying all these footstools, and by not having all the weight of all those footstools.  Also probably leads to higher satisfaction by having less room clutter in rooms of people who don't know/don't care that there aren't footstools. 

 

Why don't you like this solution? it seems to be a win-win for everyone.

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, UnorigionalName said:

 

 

I mean, how many people are going to ask for footstools?  Probably a pretty small amount.  Probably pretty easy to store enough in a small something.

 

Probably overall saves a lot of money by not buying all these footstools, and by not having all the weight of all those footstools.  Also probably leads to higher satisfaction by having less room clutter in rooms of people who don't know/don't care that there aren't footstools. 

 

Why don't you like this solution? it seems to be a win-win for everyone.

It's a win win if they actually do it but all of the responses seem to be lip service. On the Princess board they are complaining about the barrel chair being removed. They gave the same response. Perhaps Lisa took a line out of their page.

[alwaysonaship]

35 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Sorry you and/others may have missed My point.

 

The point is, in a forum like this, we are only going to get so much info and direct input to almost 'singular' situations are bound to be disappointed and become disconnected to the responses.

 

This is a corporation providing service to a world wide audience, an audience with differing needs, wants and desires. To expect a 'definitive' response to these questions are totally not realistic. To expect her to pass on the thoughts from the posts and figure out if they are 'realistic' or can be implemented to some degree is the reality and nothing more.

 

If one expected LLP to provide direct and definitive answers to most of the questions asked, then it is on those who want such.

 

If someone knows of any other large corporations such as RCCL who can and will do this please post their names and the last time it happened.

 

I only expected her to read, listen and provide the best input for the situation for the questions/complaints being asked and nothing less. Which I believe she did.

 

A major way to effect the change you want is essentially through the comment cards or voting with your cash or hammer it home while sailing.

 

Nothing more or nothing less.

 

bon voyage

Interesting how you are so protective of Celebrity. Frankly I think they have been very unkind to their customers..just like the Galapagos debacle. We moved on, and I think many long time fans have too. I cannot see any reason to defend them

[Iamcruzin]

54 minutes ago, Eastern flygirl said:

I can’t see LLP’s postings, can someone please direct me.

thanks in advance for your help.

You have to open each question and scroll down to her vague responses. I'm surprised she didn't answer a question with a question.

[fleckle]

47 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

I usually agree with you but in this case I have to wonder what was the point of this exercise in futility? Do we know anything today that we did not know yesterday?

 

Well, at least there were two things that made it worthwhile.

(1) - We now know that gerelmx  has received confirmation from LLP herself that the advice we have been giving him here on Cruise Critic is correct and there is no problem with his B2B2B cruise booking.

So he can simply ignore what his TA has been telling him. 

He is one person who should certainly be very happy about this thread. 

 

(2) - The other is post #52 in the Foot Stools thread, which I am guessing numerous posters are saving and/or printing out to take with them on their next cruise.

Can't you picture it now. 

Butler or stateroom attendant:  I wish I could provide you with a footstool, but there are no footstools available.

Passenger:  But the CEO promised us footstools -- here are her exact words.........

       

Edited August 13, 2019 by fleckle

[UnorigionalName]

1 hour ago, Eastern flygirl said:

I can’t see LLP’s postings, can someone please direct me.

thanks in advance for your help.

 

you can also go to the profile to see all her responses

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/profile/1847048-lisa-lutoff-perlo/content/

[Bo1953]

5 minutes ago, alwaysonaship said:

Interesting how you are so protective of Celebrity. Frankly I think they have been very unkind to their customers..just like the Galapagos debacle. We moved on, and I think many long time fans have too. I cannot see any reason to defend them

I like to think that I Am protective of My reality of X.

 

There are good things and not so good things and changes, just like passengers and other cruise lines, IME.

 

How has X been 'unkind' to us? As I have only been sailing them for less than a decade.

 

Yes, I know many from CC have moved on from X and I do respect their/your decision to do so, to be sure...

 

Thank you and bon voyage

[Iamcruzin]

6 minutes ago, fleckle said:

 

Well, at least there were two things that made it worthwhile.

(1) - We now know that gerelmx  has received confirmation from LLP herself that the advice we have been giving him here on Cruise Critic is correct and there is no problem with his B2B2B cruise booking.

So he can simply ignore what his TA has been telling him. 

He is one person who certainly should certainly be very happy about this thread. 

 

(2) - The other is post #52 in the Foot Stools thread, which I am guessing numerous posters are saving and/or printing out to take with them on their next cruise.

Can't you picture it now. 

Butler or stateroom attendant:  I wish I could provide you with a footstool, but there are no footstools available.

Passenger:  But the CEO promised us footstools -- here are her exact words.........

       

I feel sorry for the staff. She just pushed everything off on them to take care of. Those lines at guest service are going to be longer than normal. 

[keesar]

26 minutes ago, alwaysonaship said:

Interesting how you are so protective of Celebrity. Frankly I think they have been very unkind to their customers..just like the Galapagos debacle. We moved on, and I think many long time fans have too. I cannot see any reason to defend them

 

There are some individuals that will defend no matter what the reality is.  There are several of them on this board.

 

Some. have supported the loss of replacement bottled water in Aqua Class due to the notion of saving the environment.  But they will say nothing about the  waste of paper advertising  art auctions, bingos, shopping, etc. that are passed out to each room on a daily basis.  By the way, there is a process called recycling...

[Shadow9612]

3 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

I only expected her to read, listen and provide the best input for the situation for the questions/complaints being asked and nothing less. Which I believe she did

I agree. 

[Yoshikitty]

Quite surprised about the expectations of some here.

 

If you watch other cruiseline boards, this happened before again and again.

She's the CEO of a listed corporate with a strong brand identity.

Everybody who has worked for a corporate brand knows, that the most value asset is the brand.

 

Every employee, and particularly the CEO has the main goal to stengthen and protect the brand.

She as the head has to stand up for her corporate, her brand and her employees.

 

From a brand, NEVER expect that they admit: "Yeah, we have screwed this up".

She may get sued from her shareholders for damaging the brand.

 

Also keep in mind that as much pivotal CC is for some, we are just representing a small number of enthusiasts.

Our points are valid, but only a small number of opinions. Pretty sure that the large minority would not have so strong opinions about everything like we do.

And the main question is: How will these complaints affect the brand value and/or the bottomline?

 

Edited August 13, 2019 by Yoshikitty

[ORV]

13 hours ago, alwaysonaship said:

Interesting how you are so protective of Celebrity. Frankly I think they have been very unkind to their customers..just like the Galapagos debacle. We moved on, and I think many long time fans have too. I cannot see any reason to defend them

And there are those that think Celebrity doesn't have a social media presence here. 

[Wine-O]

LLP's major focus is on Suites.  It's a huge money maker.  You double the price and then give them a few trinkets (perks) that don't cost  anywhere close to what they are making.    To hell with your stinken foot stools!  😏

 

Just got off 14 days on Millennium.  They did a great job in redoing Michael's Club -- never saw more than 2 people in there when I walked by.  Most of the times it was completely empty.  🍷

[PTC DAWG]

I can't believe that many of you expected direct answers to your queries...

[PTC DAWG]

6 hours ago, Yoshikitty said:

Quite surprised about the expectations of some here.

 

If you watch other cruiseline boards, this happened before again and again.

She's the CEO of a listed corporate with a strong brand identity.

Everybody who has worked for a corporate brand knows, that the most value asset is the brand.

 

Every employee, and particularly the CEO has the main goal to stengthen and protect the brand.

She as the head has to stand up for her corporate, her brand and her employees.

 

From a brand, NEVER expect that they admit: "Yeah, we have screwed this up".

She may get sued from her shareholders for damaging the brand.

 

Also keep in mind that as much pivotal CC is for some, we are just representing a small number of enthusiasts.

Our points are valid, but only a small number of opinions. Pretty sure that the large minority would not have so strong opinions about everything like we do.

And the main question is: How will these complaints affect the brand value and/or the bottomline?

 

Well said.  

[Olive1950]

13 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

You have to open each question and scroll down to her vague responses. I'm surprised she didn't answer a question with a question.

 

You hit the nail on the head:  VAGUE, if any answer at all.  I get more traction and a better response by putting my questions on my post-cruise comment forms.  I make a WORD document for each cruise, adding comments and questions until the cruise is over.  No need to remember; or forget to address something.  Then, I simply COPY and PASTE in the SMALL BOX; and wait for the responses to come flooding in....  Heck, I already have a page of comments for my October Equinox cruise.

 

I'm very disappointed in LLP, but not surprised.  This was a total waste of time and effort.

[Orator]

There was a lot of information if you read between the lines. For example: In her response to the question about a new level between Elite+ and Zenith she basically said "No"; however there was discussion about giving an opportunity to add points by spending more with Celebrity. I've heard rumors about this for more than a year and now it's confirmed!