Celebrity Edge ahead of the curve??

[jelayne]

When the Edge was launched many of use were surprised & not happy to find the small bottles of shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and body lotion were replaced with large refillable bottles.  As the ships get revolutionized the large bottles are replacing the small bottles.  

 

Today Marriott, one of the largest hotel operators,  announced they are eliminating the small bottles in favor of large dispensers in the tub/shower in all their properties to reduce the plastic waste.

 

Looks like X was among the early converts to what will be the new norm.

[Bo1953]

Yes OR they were tired of guests like myself who took the small bottles to pass out to friends as a memento of the sailing! LOL

 

Confession!

 

bon voyage

[vtcruising]

Interesting. When I first saw the bottles, I thought it was a cost-cutting thing (and that they could pass it off as an earth-saving initiative), but after seeing the recycling initiative on the ship and hearing the guy in charge of that on the Edge talk (Inside Access Tour), I realized how serious they actually were to decrease plastic waste. He said that all of the staff/crew are educated on decreasing waste and recycling and that they are very proud that they are doing their part (I had the impression that they maybe even have incentives, but I can't remember for sure if he said that).

 

I find the bottles annoying (I found them difficult to get them to dispense), but we bring our own stuff anyway, so not a biggie for us. I got over it when I decided that the big picture of decreasing plastics in the ocean is much more important than my minor annoyance. 🙂

[Longboysfan]

42 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Yes OR they were tired of guests like myself who took the small bottles to pass out to friends as a memento of the sailing! LOL

 

Confession!

 

bon voyage

 

Yes.  My kids did that when they were younger on our cruises with them.

I liked to have one in the bathroom at home to remind me of the last trip.

[vtcruising]

1 hour ago, Bo1953 said:

Yes OR they were tired of guests like myself who took the small bottles to pass out to friends as a memento of the sailing! LOL

 

Confession!

 

bon voyage

I am still hoarding some Bulgari....

[TMLAalum]

I'll need to do a work-around using shampoo from those small bottles to hand-wash my dainties!

[ipeeinthepool]

8 hours ago, jelayne said:

Looks like X was among the early converts to what will be the new norm.

 

Or X was one of the early victims of PC pressure.  I'm thinking they will move to paper bottles similar to the paper water bottles.

 

I'll still be bringing plenty of plastic straws for myself and any friends that I meet on board.

[Sascol]

29 minutes ago, TMLAalum said:

I'll need to do a work-around using shampoo from those small bottles to hand-wash my dainties!

 

Not sure I understand (or want to understand) what this means.

[Iamcruzin]

I hate when companies play  the Environmentally Friendly card as a decoy to cutting costs. I wouldn’t mind if they used the same quality products in the dispenser but they cheap out and use a conditioning shampoo that has no sign of a conditioner being present. We use the cheapest shampoo and conditioner at home.It’s usually on sale for 79 cents. Imagine my surprise when using the hair tangler shampoo on Royal Caribbean that left your hair and skin feeling more dirty and sticky than before you showed. First port of call we hit up a CVS for real products. I wouldn’t wash my car with the stuff they supply.  I hope Celebrity and the Marriott use better products.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, vtcruising said:

Interesting. When I first saw the bottles, I thought it was a cost-cutting thing (and that they could pass it off as an earth-saving initiative), but after seeing the recycling initiative on the ship and hearing the guy in charge of that on the Edge talk (Inside Access Tour), I realized how serious they actually were to decrease plastic waste. He said that all of the staff/crew are educated on decreasing waste and recycling and that they are very proud that they are doing their part (I had the impression that they maybe even have incentives, but I can't remember for sure if he said that).

 

I find the bottles annoying (I found them difficult to get them to dispense), but we bring our own stuff anyway, so not a biggie for us. I got over it when I decided that the big picture of decreasing plastics in the ocean is much more important than my minor annoyance. 🙂

I would like to believe that pitch however now they have to recycle the gallon size plastic containers that the products come in. How is that helping the environment?

[vtcruising]

3 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I hate when companies play  the Environmentally Friendly card as a decoy to cutting costs. I wouldn’t mind if they used the same quality products in the dispenser but they cheap out and use a conditioning shampoo that has no sign of a conditioner being present. We use the cheapest shampoo and conditioner at home.It’s usually on sale for 79 cents. Imagine my surprise when using the hair tangler shampoo on Royal Caribbean that left your hair and skin feeling more dirty and sticky than before you showed. First port of call we hit up a CVS for real products. I wouldn’t wash my car with the stuff they supply.  I hope Celebrity and the Marriott use better products.

I didn't use the shampoo and conditioner as my hair requires a higher end shampoo to keep it in line (just used the shower gel once because my soap was missing - that seemed okay), but after reading several reviews, it does sound like a downgrade. I'm all for decreasing plastic use, but agree that it shouldn't include a simultaneous downgrade in the quality of the products.

[kearney]

10 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I hate when companies play  the Environmentally Friendly card as a decoy to cutting costs. 

I agree completely.  Several months ago... I contacted the company that makes a particular brand of gelato that I love. I had noticed that some of their products were missing the safety seal around the top. The response I got was that the company was responding to consumers who wanted less packaging.... well then the whole ice cream licking thing started... and for the record.. I had nothing to do with that... I just recall the Tylenol incident (I worked in consumer packaging back in the day).... so I reached out again..and got the same answer... that they were concerned about the environment..... I now buy another brand. Having worked in product management for 30+ years... I know very well that, as you noted, they are simply using this to cover cost cutting.

[vtcruising]

19 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I would like to believe that pitch however now they have to recycle the gallon size plastic containers that the products come in. How is that helping the environment?

I guess that I assumed that it would be less plastic in the long run (for example my DH has used one of those little shampoo bottles every night and probably 3 of the conditioners during a cruise). I have no way of knowing, but they possibly refill those big bottles, or if not, I would think there would be a lot less plastic in one large bottle than about 30 little ones (just guessing on how many shampoo aliquots in each bottles). When I'm onboard next, I will ask more questions. 🙂

 

Edit: just reread your question - it sounds like you were talking about the larger refill containers (I didn't know they were definitely refilling them - just that they had the larger pump bottles). I still think it would be less plastic than a gallon of shampoo divided into many tiny bottles, but haven't done the math.🙂

Edited August 29, 2019 by vtcruising

[TeeRick]

26 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I hate when companies play  the Environmentally Friendly card as a decoy to cutting costs. I wouldn’t mind if they used the same quality products in the dispenser but they cheap out and use a conditioning shampoo that has no sign of a conditioner being present. We use the cheapest shampoo and conditioner at home.It’s usually on sale for 79 cents. Imagine my surprise when using the hair tangler shampoo on Royal Caribbean that left your hair and skin feeling more dirty and sticky than before you showed. First port of call we hit up a CVS for real products. I wouldn’t wash my car with the stuff they supply.  I hope Celebrity and the Marriott use better products.

Mike- Look at the bright side.  At least you still have hair to wash!

[Tltorrez]

I use my own stuff so it doesn't really matter to me but I've seen these larger containers before in smaller hotel chains. A few times over the last couple years. So definitely a trend that I expect to see across the industry.

[Animalgirl27]

I agree that the quality of the shampoo and conditioner in the shower of Celebrity Edge was very poor and did not lather at all. It was worse than any hotel products I have used in the past. 

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Mike- Look at the bright side.  At least you still have hair to wash!

LOL true. The color left but the follicles seem to be holding their own.

[zook50]

On the Edge in January, we were using refillable metal water bottles; no plastic bottles were used for drinking water.  Perhaps, soap and hair products will eventually  be distributed in a more eco friendly material too?

 

I bring my own hair and body wash products, so I don't use the Celebrity products, but my husband does.  BTW, the amount of lather is not an indication of product quality but just something that a lot of people like in their hair or soap products (me included😄).  My expensive (unfortunately) salon shampoo really helps my hair, but it doesn't lather as much as my husband's drugstore shampoo.

[twodjs]

I don't know about "ahead of the curve" - for at least a couple of years, Holland America has had shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in dispensers mounted to the shower wall of each cabin. They are refilled as needed by the room steward. 

[BettyCruiser]

Yes, actually behind the curve. I had wall mounted dispensers on NCL, Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean, and at least they worked. The pump on my conditioner on the Edge was broken already, and the clearance of the pumps weren't good.

[CharlieCharlieCharlie]

Are the bottles able to be opened?  I do bring my own shampoo and conditioner, but I worry more about who has used the product while in the cabin before me, and what they might have put into the bottles. 

[TeaBag]

15 hours ago, vtcruising said:

I am still hoarding some Bulgari....

Me too. 

[CharlieCharlieCharlie]

1 hour ago, CharlieCharlieCharlie said:

Are the bottles able to be opened?  I do bring my own shampoo and conditioner, but I worry more about who has used the product while in the cabin before me, and what they might have put into the bottles. 

I happened upon some photos someone posted in a review of the Millennium and noted that the bottles appear to be secured and not openable by anyone other than the room stewards, so that’s a good thing. 

[vtcruising]

8 hours ago, CharlieCharlieCharlie said:

Are the bottles able to be opened?  I do bring my own shampoo and conditioner, but I worry more about who has used the product while in the cabin before me, and what they might have put into the bottles. 

That crossed my mind as well. I think they can be opened.

This was on the Edge, but maybe they have chained them up by now:

 

 

[TeeRick]

13 hours ago, BettyCruiser said:

Yes, actually behind the curve. I had wall mounted dispensers on NCL, Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean, and at least they worked. The pump on my conditioner on the Edge was broken already, and the clearance of the pumps weren't good.

Agree behind the curve compared to some other cruise line.  But who wants to be actually ahead of the curve on using mass produced and cheap products mounted to the wall?