Stateroom free movies eliminated

[mahdnc]

7 minutes ago, Oxo said:

That's over 2 1/2 years ago. Things change daily. 

 

Unless I misunderstood, I thought Arno's question was--before free movies were taken away--did M class's TV system include (on demand) free movies.

[Algebralovr]

I emailed CelebrityOneTouch yesterday and received a phone call today.  The movies are definitely going away, ship by ship.  So, if they are not gone yet, they will be soon, fleet wide.  

Each ship is supposed to have 8 movies to show in the public places.  Those were the same movies that previously were available on demand at no additional fee in the state rooms.  Because they are shown in that way, Celebrity has to pay big bucks.

My complaint is that there is, therefore, no other way to watch a movie in the room, for example during poor weather.    The rep understood.  She had recently been in a hotel with smart TVs that allowed guests to sign into their own NetFlix accounts.  My counter to that is that often the internet cannot keep up to allow all those who want to stream to do so, and the TVs are locked out of allowing us to cast to the TV.

 

She did say that if a guest was under quarantine via medical, the 14.99 fee per movie would be waived.  I guess that is something.

 

I simply asked her to include me in the list of guests who feels that taking away a handful of free movies is cheapening the product.

[Nymich]

12 minutes ago, Algebralovr said:

I emailed CelebrityOneTouch yesterday and received a phone call today.  The movies are definitely going away, ship by ship.  So, if they are not gone yet, they will be soon, fleet wide.  

Each ship is supposed to have 8 movies to show in the public places.  Those were the same movies that previously were available on demand at no additional fee in the state rooms.  Because they are shown in that way, Celebrity has to pay big bucks.

My complaint is that there is, therefore, no other way to watch a movie in the room, for example during poor weather.    The rep understood.  She had recently been in a hotel with smart TVs that allowed guests to sign into their own NetFlix accounts.  My counter to that is that often the internet cannot keep up to allow all those who want to stream to do so, and the TVs are locked out of allowing us to cast to the TV.

 

She did say that if a guest was under quarantine via medical, the 14.99 fee per movie would be waived.  I guess that is something.

 

I simply asked her to include me in the list of guests who feels that taking away a handful of free movies is cheapening the product.

Thanks for posting the bad news it appears X is starting to can their response quite  nicely...…..cough

 

How generous as well to offer movies if you are quarantined.

 

Nothing changes cheap move.

[hcat]

Wow... very disappointed they are into the herding together of pax syndrome..

Maybe we'll soon be forced to share staterooms with strangers!

 

[MamaFej]

The included in the fare (not free) movies disappeared from the Constellation while we were onboard in late June. It was our second cruise of the month, and we'd had included movies on the Reflection. Hubby tried to put on a movie on a sea day, well into the constellation cruise. He noticed it was for a fee. He thought that it might have been because we were in an inside cabin (we'd been in Concierge Class on the previous cruise). I told him that I had checked on one of the first days, and the movies were included. We were disappointed, but soon got busy with other things. It didn't occur to us to talk to Guest Services, and we were busy in Italy and had lousy internet connectivity after the cruise, so never did the post-cruise survey (if we ever got it).

 

We will be on the Eclipse in a few weeks, with several consecutive sea days. I hope we will still have access to included movies. Either way, I will mention to Guest Services that we and others believe they should still be included in our cruise fare.

[rakes5]

We used to sail exclusively on Royal. Then we took a Celebrity cruise, loved it, and started sailing mostly on Celebrity's Solstice class.

 

When others have asked us to compare Royal, and Celebrity, we always said, the entertainment on Royal was better, but, it was the little things that made Celebrity special.

 

The pads on the deck chairs, instead of the vinyl straps on Royal. 

The included Mast Grill, on the pool deck, so you could grab something in a wet swimsuit (Remember when Celebrity tried to charge for this?).

The Martini Bar (Don't care for the new Edge Class Martini Bar).

The 14 night Southern Caribbean cruises (Alas- No More), and

We always mentioned the free, on-Demand, movies, that you could start, stop, and resume later. While on some Royal ships, there was a movie channel, there wasn't a guide available, and you never knew what was on and when. On Celebrity, we would start a movie before going to bed, watch a little bit, and continue over multiple nights. It was a nice relaxing way to end the day.

 

The end of the free movies is disappointing. If they are planning on using the showing of these movies to replace paying for entertainers, that will also be disappointing. I know for years both Royal and Celebrity's Cruise Directors have boasted about how they support live entertainment.

 

Little by little, the little things that made Celebrity different are being taken away, and the prices have been rising. The games with the Perks and Non-Refundable deposits, have made us start to look at other lines, where in the past, we wouldn't have considered it. We booked a number of future cruises while on-board, and have stopped doing that, so we can take time to consider other lines. We know things can't stay the same forever, and I know that this is why Celebrity is targeting new cruisers, as they have little to compare to.

[fleckle]

2 hours ago, Arno. said:

I'm not sure, depending on the alignment of the stars and the glass of wine I just consumed but...were the free movies available only on S-Class ships and not on M-class?

 

 

The last time we cruised on M-class (end of 2018) they still had the free movies.

 

When you first turned on the TV, it would tell you what the featured free movie was for that day and listed the times it would be shown.  It usually repeated several times throughout the day.

 

 It looks like X keeps trying to think up more and more ways to charge extra for things that were previously included and that their regular customers (euphemistically called "guests" 😉) have come to expect.

 

 

I think these cutbacks tie in with their refusal to add another Captain's Club level.

 

Rather than offer "loyalty" incentives, they are trying to attract new customers who will be unaware of all the features that are being eliminated or diminished.

 

For those of us who love the old Celebrity, it now becomes harder and harder each time to decide whether to book another X cruise, or head elsewhere.

 

X management may not care so much about losing the older generation, but surely they must realize that when we move over to another cruise line, or a different type of vacation, often our adult children move over right along with us.

 

  

[TeaBag]

1 hour ago, fleckle said:

X management may not care so much about losing the older generation, but surely they must realize that when we move over to another cruise line, or a different type of vacation, often our adult children move over right along with us.

 

  

Well said.

[rimmit]

This is a truly sad thing to go away.  I have a 4 year old and 8 year, and have been exclusively sailing Disney and RCI about 21-28 cruise days a year, until our youngest finally turned 3 and we could go on a ship without a nursery.  

 

We had been on Celebrity several times before we had kids, but once we had kids we stuck to the two kid friendliest lines up until this last year.  We finally went back on Celebrity this last August and loved it!  We were shocked with how much effort Celebrity put into their kids program.  For a cruise line not known for children amenities they really tried  hard to make it family friendly.  One of the things we truly loved was having the TV movies.  It was just so nice when getting ready for bed, or in those 30 minute deadzones of times just to put on a movie for them to watch.  We hadn't been on Celebrity since 2010 and forgot just how much nicer it is than RCI, and how much better the maintenance and service was.  The attention to detail, especially the little things like chocolates on the pillows and the movies just made it a much better experience, so much so that despite having just reached Diamond plus on RCI decided to move over to Celebrity.  The removal of the movies is just signaling more cut backs in the future, in the same way all the lines, but RCI in particular has really cut down to the bare bones at this point.

 

I did email celebrityonetouch and I suggest everyone call and do the same.  Unlikely to change anything, but maybe they will reconsider some future changes, or at least put them off a little longer. 

[hulamoon]

Every once in awhile concerned cruisers can bring about a change. This feature is going to be missed.

 

That it costs money is a sad response considering the amount we are paying, certainly they are making money. By this measure, they could save money by only serving tuna and peanut

butter sandwiches.

[cruise47]

What are the families with small children & pre teen going to watch on television?

[rjhelmes]

Has Celebrity thought about the unintended consequences of this move? For us, we enjoy Celebrity because it seems less crowded because people are in their staterooms. If this move pushes people to the pool (the ships will need more pool loungers) or to other places our enjoyment level will probably go down. While I can't say we won't sail with Celebrity next time but it'll certainly be taken into consideration. And who knows we may try another brand and like it and not return to Celebrity, that's a risk they're taking by making this move. It might be cheaper to keep the movies than trying to attract new (not yet loyal) customers.

[gcorgain]

Maybe a new elite benefit? Free movies?

[Nymich]

25 minutes ago, cruise47 said:

What are the families with small children & pre teen going to watch on television?

There is nothing.  All X has are Celebrity Sales Channels, Intl Sports for the most part and News.  You have to pay for anything else.   They now have the worst TV at Sea.  I am proud of the X loyalists who have called in or emailed.  This was not right and done poorly which they even admit.

[Nymich]

2 minutes ago, gcorgain said:

Maybe a new elite benefit? Free movies?

Funny my better half told me that X will set it up for their new perk In room movies.

 

I can see that before them giving it to Elite.

Edited September 12, 2019 by Nymich

[wpgcycler]

Not a frequent cruiser but just someone who has thoroughly enjoyed my 2 X cruises and found them to be remarkable value. I've often spoken highly to my friends about the experience and have convinced 3 other couples (all first time cruisers) to join us for our 3rd cruise, next January. With the removal of free movies I'm now realizing they'll have to make do with only a dozen bars, several dining venues, nightly theatre productions, a couple of pools, the sound and sight of the sea, a thermal lounge, a fitness centre, a library, unlimited premium drinks and a few Caribbean islands. WHAT HAVE I DONE???

[Nymich]

19 minutes ago, wpgcycler said:

Not a frequent cruiser but just someone who has thoroughly enjoyed my 2 X cruises and found them to be remarkable value. I've often spoken highly to my friends about the experience and have convinced 3 other couples (all first time cruisers) to join us for our 3rd cruise, next January. With the removal of free movies I'm now realizing they'll have to make do with only a dozen bars, several dining venues, nightly theatre productions, a couple of pools, the sound and sight of the sea, a thermal lounge, a fitness centre, a library, unlimited premium drinks and a few Caribbean islands. WHAT HAVE I DONE???

The best you could I guess.

[The_Big_M]

5 hours ago, Algebralovr said:

My complaint is that there is, therefore, no other way to watch a movie in the room, for example during poor weather.    The rep understood.  She had recently been in a hotel with smart TVs that allowed guests to sign into their own NetFlix accounts.  My counter to that is that often the internet cannot keep up to allow all those who want to stream to do so, and the TVs are locked out of allowing us to cast to the TV.

 

I didn't realise having a Netflix account was a requirement to sail on Celebrity.

[AZcruisegirl]

Wow, wow....sailing on the Equinox in October for our 30th Anniversary! I truly am disappointed that we can’t watch a movie and just chill. My DH would watch a portion of a movie while I get ready for the evening. Like others have said, it is not the reason we cruise, but is something we’ve ALWAYS done. It is so relaxing to watch a movie in the afternoon. We enjoy the quiet on our vacation at times. 

We’ve cruised in the past with our 2 daughters. They have watched movies waiting for us to get ready and for downtime at night. As a parent, I can’t even imagine not having tv for my children.  

I do know that many hotels are doing similar cutbacks but you can sign in to Prime or Netflix. We’ve brought our  firestick and streamed. There’s no upcharge for that in the hotels we’ve stayed at. It’s my understanding you have to get unlimited streaming for $$$$ on X  and then watch it on your laptop or Ipad. Really?  

There are SO many websites you can stream movies for free, Tubi, Pluto, Vue, etc. why can’t X offer these on the cabin smart TV?

So exactly what is the cabin TV for?  🤷‍♀️

I will be calling and emailing. Should I bring my own toilet paper? They may discontinue TP? Okay....done with my rant.🥺

[kathynorth]

7 hours ago, Algebralovr said:

I emailed CelebrityOneTouch yesterday and received a phone call today.  The movies are definitely going away, ship by ship.  So, if they are not gone yet, they will be soon, fleet wide.  

Each ship is supposed to have 8 movies to show in the public places.  Those were the same movies that previously were available on demand at no additional fee in the state rooms.  Because they are shown in that way, Celebrity has to pay big bucks.

My complaint is that there is, therefore, no other way to watch a movie in the room, for example during poor weather.    The rep understood.  She had recently been in a hotel with smart TVs that allowed guests to sign into their own NetFlix accounts.  My counter to that is that often the internet cannot keep up to allow all those who want to stream to do so, and the TVs are locked out of allowing us to cast to the TV.

 

She did say that if a guest was under quarantine via medical, the 14.99 fee per movie would be waived.  I guess that is something.

 

I simply asked her to include me in the list of guests who feels that taking away a handful of free movies is cheapening the product.

 

Thanks for your update. I emailed CelebrityOneTouch yesterday and will post if I receive a call. I'd encourage others to do the same. 

[Brad1185]

Very disappointing. I keep trying to find a reason to cruise with Celebrity again and keep finding more reasons to not cruise with them such as this.  We have done about 25 Celebrity cruises. 

 

As as long as Viking does not follow Celebrity and the other lines with all of these cutbacks and extra charges they have us hooked and have our business. 

[bonapart5]

Surely if Celebrity are going to show free movies on top they could show the same ones in the cabins for those who prefer to view there or if there is poor weather and no one wants to sit in the rain and watch.  🥶 It will not cost any more and be worth it for the good will alone.  Companies spend a fortune on marketing and PR but do not seem to realise it is the little things that can upset clients.

[redransom]

Might make a transpacific cruise with 11 sea days and no free movies a little tedious. 

[Iamcruzin]

11 hours ago, Arno. said:

Passengers in their cabin don't generate enough income... go gamble, go shopping, go book another cruise..

I doesn't matter if I'm on Celebrity, Princess or Royal Caribbean. I don't gamble, shop, pose for pictures, or book another cruise on board anymore. However, I do take full advantage of the drink packages and any food venues included in the fare. Financially they would be better off finding a way to keep me in my room. 

[workingboy]

I emailed Celebrity One Touch last night.  I suggest everybody else do the same and anybody on ship make sure it is noted in the comment cards.  It probably won't do any good, but surely this can't be a big cost item for Celebrity.  If enough of us voice our concerns that may take a second look at the cut.  I know I am just dreaming - LOL