Is Celebrity Sailing On Troubled Waters?

[JOVERNITE]

We've noticed the changes but have no plans to abandon X.  Time will tell. 

 

Carnevale, you will have a wonderful cruise!

[footer6]

I don't think the waters are troubled, it's just that times change and the industry has changed.  "Everything old is new again."  Years ago, cruising had different classes of passengers, with different areas for each class.  That changed to one class only.  Now the pendulum is swinging back toward separate restaurants and other areas for suites, etc.  For all the complaints about cuts in perks, and I've made some too, today's product is still a good value.  Our first cruise was over 30 years ago, 7 days, out of Fort Lauderdale.  We paid almost as much (in 1987 dollars) for an inside cabin, as we paid for a 7 day next month, in a Concierge cabin, with drink package and tips included.  Back then, there were more choices in the dining room, drinks were 2 or 3 dollars, and there were very few extras.  Back then, a large ship was 1,200 passengers.  The economics of today's industry makes for a volume business with lower initial fares and more up-charges.  Yes, cutting out the token prizes for the trivia contest seems petty, but then again, it's not going to ruin my vacation.  I already have a drawer full of key chains, luggage tags and T-shirts.

[deliver42]

You can take the threads that complain about changes and or cutbacks and put them on any of the mainstream cruises, because they all complain about the same things. Heck, Princess even took away the chairs in the rooms, and the std balconies don't have a sofa or love seat.

[Spif Barwunkel]

3 hours ago, dkjretired said:

I'm going to be a buzz kill with this thread.  OPs first and subsequent posts all seem like they're written by a Public Relations firm or even Celebrity  seeking information for whatever reason.   Maybe Celebrity, maybe another line, don't know, just seems very fishy to me.  

dkjretired, I assure you I am just another traveler. Like anyone else here who enjoys cruising, I want to hear about experiences, contemplate opinions and be an intelligent contributor to various forums. My only connection to PR is a Private Reserve single malt scotch that I enjoy on occasion. Honestly.  

[dkjretired]

5 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

dkjretired, I assure you I am just another traveler. Like anyone else here who enjoys cruising, I want to hear about experiences, contemplate opinions and be an intelligent contributor to various forums. My only connection to PR is a Private Reserve single malt scotch that I enjoy on occasion. Honestly.  

 

Good, I have to complement you on your writing, its very good. 

[hulamoon]

I have noticed many of the people who encouraged me to cruise X have jumped ship and are less loyal. We have cruised numerous X ships in a row and to get that same feel we keep moving up in suites. Now that we have, we shop more and will likely begin cruising new lines. There is no potential loyalty reason to stay,  The Edge was past due. I was ready long before it showed up.

 

I am less likely to book more future bookings. Just because I am weary of the prices rising and falling and requiring so much management. It’s time for us to look for last minute bookings. 

 

I discovered quite by accident, the edge experience in regular class is likely a good value as long as they keep the mdr and specialty restaurant quality up. The food was a big reason we left AQ for suites, and wanting a little more square footage and a nicer bathroom. The Edge has that right now. The suite price on Edge is quite high and in a short time I will know if I feel it lived up to the cost. The amenities in a suite make the loyalty null, so the whole experience and value is constantly in motion, in more ways than one. 😉 

[tjunmin]

My concern is that the prices of suites keep increasing - to the point where I'm finding them ridiculously exorbitant - while the value I get as a passenger keeps decreasing. There are so many perks that I enjoyed that are gone. But I'd like to remain objective and factual in this conversation. So let's take food in Luminae as an example. Sometimes instead of ordering a dessert at the end of dinner, I opt for a fruit plate which is lighter and healthier. Here is a photo [link] of a fruit plate at Luminae on the Millennium on January 2018. Compare that fruit plate to this one [link] from Luminae on the Constellation on April 2019 and notice the drop in quality (variety, quantity, presentation). Now compare both of them to this fruit plate [link] from Luminae on the Millennium on September 2019; pardon my French, but WT*; I ordered it again on a different evening and they were consistently poor in terms of variety, quantity and presentation. I find shocking that in the space of one year and nine months, on the same ship, the quality dropped so low. In my opinion, the problem is not that we do not enjoy cruising with Celebrity. The problem is that the value of my dollar keeps eroding, in a race to the bottom. My apologies for the rant, but I'm so frustrated that the cruise line that I love is going downhill and I'm looking at other cruise lines when I do not want to do that.

Edited October 8, 2019 by tjunmin

[Luvcrusn]

We love to cruise and for many, many years when we've decided we want to book a cruise vacation, we've looked only at which X cruise we wanted to book next. Over the last two years that has changed. We now look at other cruising options. X's new policies have caused that. Prices have increased over than time much more than in any other similar timespan. Services have been cut. A line that advertises itself as "modern luxury" has cut many of the little things, which when considered alone don't matter a lot, but when considered as an aggregate make a big difference. Things like a table on a verandah and in a cabin are disappearing. Verandahs on the new builds are like sitting in front of an opened window and aren't like a verandah at all, let alone an infinite one. Charging a $14pppd for a "free" perk is foolish and makes customers feel like they are being "ripped off". Cutting things from a beverage package after passengers have paid for them isn't right. Taking away small little things like sorbet served poolside on hot days and iced towels being offered there as well.  The daily dinner menu changing from the five courses it used to offer to three. Obviously one can order multiples, but the ambiance has changed. White glove service of the past is gone. Being hounded on embarkation day to upgrade, book specialties, book spa appointments, and all through the cruise to buy art, jewelry etc. is downright annoying. Having the shop merchandise spilling out into public walkways isn't luxurious, it feels more like a flea market. Taking away daily bottled water from a class of cabin marketed as Aqua makes little sense. Spa services which are top dollar prices can't be enjoyed because the technicians are under so much pressure by the spa operators to sell merchandise hound the client with non-stop sales pitches. Cabin stewards no longer have assistants and are overworked. Waiters and stewards spend the last three to four days of each cruise "reminding" passengers how important 10 ratings are to their careers. There are easy fixes. The current CEO seems out of touch with the loyal passengers and needs to pay attention to what got X the recognition is has had. 

 

All of the above was written by someone who over the years has many times been accused of being a X cheerleader. We still have cruises booked on X, but we now look at other cruising options as well when booking our cruises. X's choices, changes and cuts over the last few years have caused that change, so for us, X is entering troubled waters.

Edited October 8, 2019 by Luvcrusn
Addition

[Marine7]

5 hours ago, Luvcrusn said:

We love to cruise and for many, many years when we've decided we want to book a cruise vacation, we've looked only at which X cruise we wanted to book next. Over the last two years that has changed. We now look at other cruising options. X's new policies have caused that. Prices have increased over than time much more than in any other similar timespan. Services have been cut. A line that advertises itself as "modern luxury" has cut many of the little things, which when considered alone don't matter a lot, but when considered as an aggregate make a big difference. Things like a table on a verandah and in a cabin are disappearing. Verandahs on the new builds are like sitting in front of an opened window and aren't like a verandah at all, let alone an infinite one. Charging a $14pppd for a "free" perk is foolish and makes customers feel like they are being "ripped off". Cutting things from a beverage package after passengers have paid for them isn't right. Taking away small little things like sorbet served poolside on hot days and iced towels being offered there as well.  The daily dinner menu changing from the five courses it used to offer to three. Obviously one can order multiples, but the ambiance has changed. White glove service of the past is gone. Being hounded on embarkation day to upgrade, book specialties, book spa appointments, and all through the cruise to buy art, jewelry etc. is downright annoying. Having the shop merchandise spilling out into public walkways isn't luxurious, it feels more like a flea market. Taking away daily bottled water from a class of cabin marketed as Aqua makes little sense. Spa services which are top dollar prices can't be enjoyed because the technicians are under so much pressure by the spa operators to sell merchandise hound the client with non-stop sales pitches. Cabin stewards no longer have assistants and are overworked. Waiters and stewards spend the last three to four days of each cruise "reminding" passengers how important 10 ratings are to their careers. There are easy fixes. The current CEO seems out of touch with the loyal passengers and needs to pay attention to what got X the recognition is has had. 

 

All of the above was written by someone who over the years has many times been accused of being a X cheerleader. We still have cruises booked on X, but we now look at other cruising options as well when booking our cruises. X's choices, changes and cuts over the last few years have caused that change, so for us, X is entering troubled waters.

Excellent Post. Very well said!

[Tapi]

17 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

A common theme among many of these threads is the dissatisfaction with the way _______ has been or is now doing business.

 

the chatter amongst _______ cruisers seems to be taking on a more negative connotation...

 

The trend is interesting, informative and certainly important to the folks whose cruise vacations with _______ are not as enjoyable....for whatever reason.

Replace Celebrity with the name of any other cruise line, and you have an almost identical thread on every board for every cruise line on Cruise Critic.

 

- All cruise lines need to evolve, change, and keep up with the times.

 

- Not everybody likes change.

 

- Those who don’t like change tend to be more vocal about it. 

 

But until I see financial reports indicating that Celebrity, or any cruise line for that matter, is not doing well because of changes made, I won’t entertain the thought that any of them is in “troubled waters”. On the contrary, it seems like most are doing well. 

 

In my humble opinion, when someone becomes dissatisfied with the product delivered by any cruise line, it’s not an indication that the cruise line needs to make some adjustments to meet their needs, but more of an indication that it’s time for that person to branch out and move up to a different cruise line. That’s why large cruise corporations offer different cruise lines under their umbrella. 

[Gordoncruickshank]

7 hours ago, tjunmin said:

My concern is that the prices of suites keep increasing - to the point where I'm finding them ridiculously exorbitant - while the value I get as a passenger keeps decreasing. There are so many perks that I enjoyed that are gone. But I'd like to remain objective and factual in this conversation. So let's take food in Luminae as an example. Sometimes instead of ordering a dessert at the end of dinner, I opt for a fruit plate which is lighter and healthier. Here is a photo [link] of a fruit plate at Luminae on the Millennium on January 2018. Compare that fruit plate to this one [link] from Luminae on the Constellation on April 2019 and notice the drop in quality (variety, quantity, presentation). Now compare both of them to this fruit plate [link] from Luminae on the Millennium on September 2019; pardon my French, but WT*; I ordered it again on a different evening and they were consistently poor in terms of variety, quantity and presentation. I find shocking that in the space of one year and nine months, on the same ship, the quality dropped so low. In my opinion, the problem is not that we do not enjoy cruising with Celebrity. The problem is that the value of my dollar keeps eroding, in a race to the bottom. My apologies for the rant, but I'm so frustrated that the cruise line that I love is going downhill and I'm looking at other cruise lines when I do not want to do that.

Can I just say that I would have preferred the last one rather than the big slabs of melon and pineapple. I stopped ordering it at breakfast because there was too much there. Started ordering a small bowl of berries. 

[4774Papa]

19 hours ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

A common theme among many of these threads is the dissatisfaction with the way Celebrity has been or is now doing business. From beverage package increases to charters, footstools to international ad campaigns, the chatter amongst X cruisers seems to be taking on a more negative connotation. The trend is interesting, informative and certainly important to the folks whose cruise vacations with X are not as enjoyable....for whatever reason.

 

This thread is intended to consolidate and highlight all concerns and disappointments rather than have them spread out over many discussions. A healthy, respectful discussion can benefit all and perhaps draw response from Celebrity executives and employees. Whether a seasoned X cruiser, a new or potential X cruiser, this is the place to speak your piece. Just remember that a negative comment or concern is much more effective when presented with valid reasoning and support. After all, we as passengers do not know everything as to the whys and wherefores. But we certainly have the right to be kept properly informed, by each other and by Celebrity. Several folks have said they will no longer patronize Celebrity. Harsh words. 

 

So, Is Celebrity sailing on troubled waters, or is it just a slight chop that will soon subside? Let us know what you think! 

 

     

My latest beef with X is that its prices are up and up.   I dislike the promo bundling and now look mainly for transatlantic cruises that are cheap and don't bundle.

[yorky]

6 hours ago, Luvcrusn said:

We love to cruise and for many, many years when we've decided we want to book a cruise vacation, we've looked only at which X cruise we wanted to book next. Over the last two years that has changed. We now look at other cruising options. X's new policies have caused that. Prices have increased over than time much more than in any other similar timespan. Services have been cut. A line that advertises itself as "modern luxury" has cut many of the little things, which when considered alone don't matter a lot, but when considered as an aggregate make a big difference. Things like a table on a verandah and in a cabin are disappearing. Verandahs on the new builds are like sitting in front of an opened window and aren't like a verandah at all, let alone an infinite one. Charging a $14pppd for a "free" perk is foolish and makes customers feel like they are being "ripped off". Cutting things from a beverage package after passengers have paid for them isn't right. Taking away small little things like sorbet served poolside on hot days and iced towels being offered there as well.  The daily dinner menu changing from the five courses it used to offer to three. Obviously one can order multiples, but the ambiance has changed. White glove service of the past is gone. Being hounded on embarkation day to upgrade, book specialties, book spa appointments, and all through the cruise to buy art, jewelry etc. is downright annoying. Having the shop merchandise spilling out into public walkways isn't luxurious, it feels more like a flea market. Taking away daily bottled water from a class of cabin marketed as Aqua makes little sense. Spa services which are top dollar prices can't be enjoyed because the technicians are under so much pressure by the spa operators to sell merchandise hound the client with non-stop sales pitches. Cabin stewards no longer have assistants and are overworked. Waiters and stewards spend the last three to four days of each cruise "reminding" passengers how important 10 ratings are to their careers. There are easy fixes. The current CEO seems out of touch with the loyal passengers and needs to pay attention to what got X the recognition is has had. 

 

All of the above was written by someone who over the years has many times been accused of being a X cheerleader. We still have cruises booked on X, but we now look at other cruising options as well when booking our cruises. X's choices, changes and cuts over the last few years have caused that change, so for us, X is entering troubled waters.

A good post but our experience on this last cruise is the average passenger does not care. We spoke to a large number of people that were new to Celebrity and they loved the product and complaints tended to be about things off the ship such as tours and issues on the islands. These changes only impact people that have cruised  with Celebrity for years and even many that are long time Celebrity cruisers did not seem bothered on our cruise. Our ship was full and there was no evidence of discontent, quite the opposite. 

[DirtyDawg]

Troubled Waters?

I don't think X is down and out
Or out on the street
The evenings are not falling so had

And pain is certainly not all around 

🎼

 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2019 by DirtyDawg

[floridatravelersforlife]

15 hours ago, Mike981 said:

 

You will have a great time. Go with the right attitude and go with the flow. Most people who are negative are missing the memory of the 'days of old'.

Take subjective original posts and their subjective posts on CC with a grain of salt.  We have been baffled over the last 20 years by pax posting here (from our same cruise) who had strong opinions which vastly differed from our experience. We were always surprised as though we were on the antimatter version of the cruise!  Experience you cruise for yourself. It beats sitting at home doing the same ole thing.    Factual representations of noisy cabins, etc should be taken for the truth.

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, dkjretired said:

I'm going to be a buzz kill with this thread.  OPs first and subsequent posts all seem like they're written by a Public Relations firm or even Celebrity  seeking information for whatever reason.   Maybe Celebrity, maybe another line, don't know, just seems very fishy to me.  

I completely agree with you.  

[blueboro]

While we are not happy with some of the changes (especially the $14 day for a "free" drink package) we still feel X is the top of the mainstream lines.  Their ships are far less crowded than other mainstream lines who tend to cram as many pax as possible in...and IMO more of a relaxing experience if that is important.  Now it is just a matter of do we want to step up and pay more to get a more inclusive experience.

[davekathy]

Troubled waters...IMO no. If we don't like the changes, we still have options with Celebrity. We cruised long before specialty restaurants (which we do not do), BPs and other add on perks, top tier events, the relaxed suggested dress guidelines for the evening and the bigger ships. As long as we are happy with what we are paying for we'll continue to cruise with Celebrity and RC. 

Edited October 8, 2019 by davekathy

[ScubesDad]

19 hours ago, Orator said:

Much of the answer to this question will come with the next earnings report and the follow up conference call. There was a sharp reaction to the downside following the last report when RCL reported lower than expected bookings and increased fuel cost . Blamed lower bookings on hurricanes hitting during the prime booking season. 

Personally I believe that Celebrity is healthy and will remain so unless and until market saturation is reached. No problems so long as there are new cruisers to replaced pass passengers who move on. In fact, Celebrity benefits when Elites and above are replaced by new cruisers since the new cruisers don't require additional benefits. 

 

My personal opinion, and I will stick with the nautical theme, is that Celebrity is encountering headwinds rather than sailing in troubled waters.  I agree totally with Orator's comments regarding financial performance, and I feel that results will fail to meet expectations.  My thoughts are based on what I see personally.  Back in August I dumped my deleted emails and when i did I noticed a huge number of Celebrity emails, when I counted them and figured out how many days were involved it worked out to 1.15 emails per day or 8 emails every week.  I just checked and I have received 4 emails this week 2 on Sunday and 2 on Monday all 4 were marketing focused trying to get me to book another cruise.  Having worked in the corporate world  emails at that level seems to be a wee bit excessive - I would even suggest this is an indication that bookings are below historical trends.  We have completed 3 cruises in the last 12 months, on two of those cruises there were significant price drops, and on one of them as we approached final payment the price dropped 30%. This supports the comments that prices are high relative to other available options, and price reductions are needed to fill the ships.  I believe the troubles are within head office and management is feeling some pressure to increase bookings as they have a significant amount of additional capacity coming on line and they need to get it filled.

 

I do believe the on board experience is outstanding, certainly not what it was on my first cruise in 2001, but little today has retained the standards of 18 years ago.   Change has to happen to ensure survivability.  The often referenced quote "If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got", is very true; however, some changes made are not going to be successful.  The evidence of good leadership is how quickly a poor decision is reversed or rectified.

 

10 hours ago, Luvcrusn said:

We love to cruise and for many, many years when we've decided we want to book a cruise vacation, we've looked only at which X cruise we wanted to book next. Over the last two years that has changed. We now look at other cruising options. X's new policies have caused that. Prices have increased over than time much more than in any other similar timespan. Services have been cut. A line that advertises itself as "modern luxury" has cut many of the little things, which when considered alone don't matter a lot, but when considered as an aggregate make a big difference. Things like a table on a verandah and in a cabin are disappearing. Verandahs on the new builds are like sitting in front of an opened window and aren't like a verandah at all, let alone an infinite one. Charging a $14pppd for a "free" perk is foolish and makes customers feel like they are being "ripped off". Cutting things from a beverage package after passengers have paid for them isn't right. Taking away small little things like sorbet served poolside on hot days and iced towels being offered there as well.  The daily dinner menu changing from the five courses it used to offer to three. Obviously one can order multiples, but the ambiance has changed. White glove service of the past is gone. Being hounded on embarkation day to upgrade, book specialties, book spa appointments, and all through the cruise to buy art, jewelry etc. is downright annoying. Having the shop merchandise spilling out into public walkways isn't luxurious, it feels more like a flea market. Taking away daily bottled water from a class of cabin marketed as Aqua makes little sense. Spa services which are top dollar prices can't be enjoyed because the technicians are under so much pressure by the spa operators to sell merchandise hound the client with non-stop sales pitches. Cabin stewards no longer have assistants and are overworked. Waiters and stewards spend the last three to four days of each cruise "reminding" passengers how important 10 ratings are to their careers. There are easy fixes. The current CEO seems out of touch with the loyal passengers and needs to pay attention to what got X the recognition is has had. 

 

All of the above was written by someone who over the years has many times been accused of being a X cheerleader. We still have cruises booked on X, but we now look at other cruising options as well when booking our cruises. X's choices, changes and cuts over the last few years have caused that change, so for us, X is entering troubled waters.

 

I agree with many of the issues Luvcrusn raised, some of these may be deal breakers for some.  Our pet peeve was the "Turkish Bazaar" - as noted by Luvcrusn above, the flea market of $10 junk that would block the walkways outside the shops. I always complained and highlighted this on the end of cruise survey. I am glad to report that on our Reflection sailing in June the "sales" were still held, but confined to the interior space of the shops.

 

We have been loyal Celebrity cruisers since 2001, we currently have 2 cruises booked, when we should have about 4.  We are re-evaluating our vacation options because we know we can achieve the same level of experience by doing it ourselves and making it a more personal, customized experience.  The benchmark we use is cost per night, and the recent cost per night levels on Celebrity has reached the point where we need to re-evaluate. Yes you can still find hotels where there is evening turn down service with chocolates on the pillow, and where upon your return to the hotel the desk staff call you by name.

 

Will we stop sailing Celebrity ----  probably not in the near term, we just won't sail as often, and we will sail based on the destination.

 

[miaminative0853]

No.

 

We have sailed Celebrity 8 times in the past 9 years and, other than the price increases (which, by the way, like it or not, are the best measure of how well Celebrity is doing), I'd say the experience has gotten better. As previously stated, Boards such as these generally over-represent the negative and, frankly, the positive as well. Having said that, every company can benefit from feedback and we consumers certainly earn our rights to our opinions when we pay the tab.

[yorky]

My question would be where is the evidence that Celebrity are struggling ? Yes there are posts on here on cutbacks but other than that has anyone one else actual evidence of trouble ahead. Reviews and ratings still appear to be high and ships seem to be sailing with high passenger capacity. The up-selling ( as much as many don’t like it is surely generating further revenue ? We ate 8 times in speciality restaurants and upgraded to the premium drinks package on our cruise so they certainly made plenty from us, plenty of other did the same. On top of that many shore excursions were selling out and they were hardly cheap.

I would argue while feedback on here can be poor at times there is nothing to suggest evidence of dissatisfaction in general. 

[fstuff1]

On 10/7/2019 at 12:02 PM, hcat said:

I  complain like many others about certain downgrades and  changes not in our favor, but we are sticking with X in the near term..

 

.Even more so  after reading  through review of b2b on 2 diff  MSC ships  by Wonderman.

 

What happened? link?

i was planning on trying MSC next year since i've reached Platinum Plus on NCL and Elite on Celebrity.

 

[Baron Barracuda]

I trace much of this back to 2014.  That's when Richard Fain, president of RCCI announced his "double double" goal of doubling RCCI's profits in three years and raising their return on invested capital to a  double digit rate.  He achieved this target (and likely earned a huge bonus) largely through fleet expansion.  Royal added 6 new Quantum and Oasis class mega ships and the TUI partnership added 6 smaller ones.  X however received no new ships  between Reflection's launch in 2012 and Edge's debut in 2019.  What got instead was LLP,  who coincidentally took over at the end of 2014.  Have no idea how much of the profit improvement goal was assigned to X (RCCI doesn't break out financial results by line of business) but suspect even without fleet additions it was still a big number, and it all had to come from higher fares, onboard revenue and expense reductions.  Believe  most of the higher charges and service cutbacks discussed here were driven by this program.    

Edited October 8, 2019 by Baron Barracuda

[Hlitner]

X remains on our "list" but has fallen from the top spot to 4th place (among lines we actively cruise).  There are a few other lines we want to try (so far we have been on 16 cruise lines) including Viking Ocean and Oceania so they might or might not impact where X stands on our "list."  We do a lot of cruising every year and routinely have 3-5 cruises (some of them over a month long) under booking.  Currently, we have no future Celebrity cruises booked and no immediate plans to book X.  That could change if we spotted a great itinerary that was also a decent value.

 

I thought the post that talked about Celebrity's big gamble on the Edge class was interesting.  We love balcony cabins (or suites with balconies) and consider the Infinity cabins a step backwards.  We took a good look at the Edge deck plan and decided that if we ever cruised that class ship we would want a Sky Suite or better....because we want that real veranda.  I actually like that Celebrity did something innovative, but am really puzzled why they thought Infinity cabins would have as much appeal as balcony cabins.  I suspect their idea was that the Infinity's would offer all the benefits of a balcony cabin while giving passengers more interior space.  From some of the reviews (and conversations with a few friends who have been on the Edge in Infinity cabins) I think they missed on both accounts.  But they are not alone when it comes to "misses."  Princess built their new Royal Class with smaller balconies then their previous Grand Class....and folks are not pleased.  They also made other mistakes on the Royal....some of which they corrected during its first major drydock (such as opening up the center staircase).  So we will wait and see what Celebrity does when they take the Edge in for its first major drydock.

 

 

Hank

[Luvcrusn]

10 hours ago, yorky said:

A good post but our experience on this last cruise is the average passenger does not care. We spoke to a large number of people that were new to Celebrity and they loved the product and complaints tended to be about things off the ship such as tours and issues on the islands. These changes only impact people that have cruised  with Celebrity for years and even many that are long time Celebrity cruisers did not seem bothered on our cruise. Our ship was full and there was no evidence of discontent, quite the opposite. 

If you had spoken with DH and I while on the cruise, we'd have told you we're having a great time. We're not complainers, are experienced, easy-going travelers with a hearty sense of humor and are grateful that we have the health and means to enjoy a vacation. However, the reasons I stated in my post above have now caused us to look for other options when deciding we want to cruise. We didn't do that previous to the last couple of years, but we do now. That was my point. While I recognize the need for businesses to continually attract new customers to remain viable, it's also important to maintain a customer base and build upon it, and not do the former at the expense of the latter.