Is Celebrity Sailing On Troubled Waters?

[yorky]

14 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

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.

I honestly don’t think they are in the main, we will certainly return if the price is right and no one we spoke to felt any differently. In the end time will tell.

Edited October 8, 2019 by yorky

[hubofhockey]

I can't say that I am more likely to book a Celebrity cruise because of the changes.  The overall price is up to those of us who like the classic beverage package, so everything counts when we choose among cruise lines and ships.  I'm sure that they will lose some customers and gain others, so they are in "troubled waters".

[TeeRick]

They are filling their ships with or without us.  Is that "troubled waters"?

[Nymich]

11 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

They are filling their ships with or without us.  Is that "troubled waters"?

Like a bridge over...…..

[ScubesDad]

9 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

They are filling their ships with or without us.  Is that "troubled waters"?

 

I don't disagree that their ships are sailing at or near capacity: however, i feel they are having a more difficult time doing it....by this I mean they are having to discount the price as they get closer to sail date.

[TeeRick]

6 minutes ago, ScubesDad said:

 

I don't disagree that their ships are sailing at or near capacity: however, i feel they are having a more difficult time doing it....by this I mean they are having to discount the price as they get closer to sail date.

This is routine and they offer discounts after the 90 day final payment date to sell the final cabins to new passengers as do all cruise lines.

[yorky]

12 minutes ago, ScubesDad said:

 

I don't disagree that their ships are sailing at or near capacity: however, i feel they are having a more difficult time doing it....by this I mean they are having to discount the price as they get closer to sail date.

Their prices on the whole don’t look discounted to me, if anything they are gaining higher rates from the average cruiser taken across the fleet. They may discount last minute but that’s only for a relatively small percentage of passengers. Is that any different from years ago, I remember last minute discounts 20 years ago.

[villauk]

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

This is routine and they offer discounts after the 90 day final payment date to sell the final cabins to new passengers as do all cruise lines.

 

 

No, you must be mistaken. I definitely recall X stating a few years ago that they would no longer be participating in last-minute discounting, after FP  😏. Their memory must be going the same way as mine 😉.

[Mynki]

41 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

No, you must be mistaken. I definitely recall X stating a few years ago that they would no longer be participating in last-minute discounting, after FP  😏. Their memory must be going the same way as mine 😉.

That was RCCL's CEO Richard Fain in a report to shareholders. 

From my own observations over the last 12 months or so they are not discounting Edge cruises but they are on M and S class after final payment date. 

[villauk]

40 minutes ago, Mynki said:

That was RCCL's CEO Richard Fain in a report to shareholders. 

From my own observations over the last 12 months or so they are not discounting Edge cruises but they are on M and S class after final payment date. 

 

 

It was at the same time that they advised all Captain’s Club members to ensure their profiles were up-to-date as they would be offered free upgrades based on status etc. Yes, that went out the window too.

[Baron Barracuda]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

They are filling their ships with or without us.  Is that "troubled waters"?

 

Wish folks would stop saying ships sailing full is a measure of financial health.  It isn't.  Just about every ship sails at or near capacity.  The closely guarded secret is how heavily they had to discount those final cabins.  I've seen ships with over 100 empty cabins a couple of weeks before sailing sell out.  Cruise line and online ta rates never dropped but you know someone somewhere somehow got a great deal.

[Denny01]

So much for consolidating complaints. My TA from Southampton to NYC-Boston-Bermuda-Nassau-FLL (wow!) leaving in 2 weeks. It’s has one Suite and 8 veranda’s available. thats 9 out of 1441 cabins. And the Veranda price is the same as what I paid many, many months ago. 

 

And yes, if you see my signature/list of cruises you’ll see I’m going on other Lines. Because I think Celebrity has gone down hill?? Nope, trying different experiences. Life for someone who is very lucky to be able to do this so many times, that if I don’t watch out, I’ll start complaining that I saw a spot of rust and a worn rug. when that happens, put my on my front porch so I can just sit and yell at the teenagers: “Stay off my lawn, you rotten kids!!”.

 

I realize cruisers have had legit bad experiences, and they show up here because people take the time to come here to point out a real issue (or to complain about paper straws-give me a break!) and don’t come and say positives nearly as much - human nature.

 

But here are a few of my favorite complaint threads I’ve seen on Celebrity:

 

Creaky ship - Lady had sailed on Disney previously and complained that the Celebrity ship ‘made lots of noise and creaks’. I asked her what the sea-state was (well, I asked her if there was lots of winds and waves realizing she’d probably not understand ‘sea-state’). She said the Disney ship had wonderful weather while Celebrity had high winds and lots of rolling. I kindly explained that if the ship, Disney or Celebrity, didn’t ‘creak’, bend and flex in high seas, it would break in half and sink. She still thought it was terrible. 

 

thin toilet paper - yes, Thin Toilet Paper! They asked if others had 2-ply type TP in their suites. Everyone posted that wasn’t an issue anywhere on the ship, but they insisted it was much thinner than anything they’d used. I finally chimed in: if your TP is too thin......fold it over. If still thin, fold it again and again. They didn’t appreciate my considered advice. 

 

Poor Service. It was raining at a port, and a poster complained his SR didn’t have an umbrella (legit complaint).He went to the Desk and complained. The Desk person told him they had given away the last umbrella they had there, but offered him her personal umbrella and asked him to return it to her. He took it, but then left it in his SR when they left the ship.......and posted his complaint about poor service. Yup. 

 

Myself, Ive enjoyed every cruise, even one’s on Lines’ I’d not go back on. Pollyanna? Nope, I’ve taken issues to the steward/Maitre de/Front Desk. And if resolved, why post it. Single point failures are not worth talking about. 

 

My biggest complaint: Celebrity doesn’t allow me to personally pick a departure date, length of cruise and ports of call. I have to keep looking for ones that match what I can enjoy......How Inconsiderate!!

 

Den

Edited October 9, 2019 by Denny01

[tce40]

42 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

So much for consolidating complaints. My TA from Southampton to NYC-Boston-Bermuda-Nassau-FLL (wow!) leaving in 2 weeks. It’s has one Suite and 8 veranda’s available. thats 9 out of 1441 cabins. And the Veranda price is the same as what I paid many, many months ago. 

 

And yes, if you see my signature/list of cruises you’ll see I’m going on other Lines. Because I think Celebrity has gone down hill?? Nope, trying different experiences. Life for someone who is very lucky to be able to do this so many times, that if I don’t watch out, I’ll start complaining that I saw a spot of rust and a worn rug. when that happens, put my on my front porch so I can just sit and yell at the teenagers: “Stay off my lawn, you rotten kids!!”.

 

I realize cruisers have had legit bad experiences, and they show up here because people take the time to come here to point out a real issue (or to complain about paper straws-give me a break!) and don’t come and say positives nearly as much - human nature.

 

But here are a few of my favorite complaint threads I’ve seen on Celebrity:

 

Creaky ship - Lady had sailed on Disney previously and complained that the Celebrity ship ‘made lots of noise and creaks’. I asked her what the sea-state was (well, I asked her if there was lots of winds and waves realizing she’d probably not understand ‘sea-state’). She said the Disney ship had wonderful weather while Celebrity had high winds and lots of rolling. I kindly explained that if the ship, Disney or Celebrity, didn’t ‘creak’, bend and flex in high seas, it would break in half and sink. She still thought it was terrible. 

 

thin toilet paper - yes, Thin Toilet Paper! They asked if others had 2-ply type TP in their suites. Everyone posted that wasn’t an issue anywhere on the ship, but they insisted it was much thinner than anything they’d used. I finally chimed in: if your TP is too thin......fold it over. If still thin, fold it again and again. They didn’t appreciate my considered advice. 

 

Poor Service. It was raining at a port, and a poster complained his SR didn’t have an umbrella (legit complaint).He went to the Desk and complained. The Desk person told him they had given away the last umbrella they had there, but offered him her personal umbrella and asked him to return it to her. He took it, but then left it in his SR when they left the ship.......and posted his complaint about poor service. Yup. 

 

Myself, Ive enjoyed every cruise, even one’s on Lines’ I’d not go back on. Pollyanna? Nope, I’ve taken issues to the steward/Maitre de/Front Desk. And if resolved, why post it. Single point failures are not worth talking about. 

 

My biggest complaint: Celebrity doesn’t allow me to personally pick a departure date, length of cruise and ports of call. I have to keep looking for ones that match what I can enjoy......How Inconsiderate!!

 

Den

 

This response is why you're one of my very favorite posters here!  🙂

[Spif Barwunkel]

1 hour ago, Denny01 said:

So much for consolidating complaints. My TA from Southampton to NYC-Boston-Bermuda-Nassau-FLL (wow!) leaving in 2 weeks. It’s has one Suite and 8 veranda’s available. thats 9 out of 1441 cabins. And the Veranda price is the same as what I paid many, many months ago. 

 

And yes, if you see my signature/list of cruises you’ll see I’m going on other Lines. Because I think Celebrity has gone down hill?? Nope, trying different experiences. Life for someone who is very lucky to be able to do this so many times, that if I don’t watch out, I’ll start complaining that I saw a spot of rust and a worn rug. when that happens, put my on my front porch so I can just sit and yell at the teenagers: “Stay off my lawn, you rotten kids!!”.

 

I realize cruisers have had legit bad experiences, and they show up here because people take the time to come here to point out a real issue (or to complain about paper straws-give me a break!) and don’t come and say positives nearly as much - human nature.

 

But here are a few of my favorite complaint threads I’ve seen on Celebrity:

 

Creaky ship - Lady had sailed on Disney previously and complained that the Celebrity ship ‘made lots of noise and creaks’. I asked her what the sea-state was (well, I asked her if there was lots of winds and waves realizing she’d probably not understand ‘sea-state’). She said the Disney ship had wonderful weather while Celebrity had high winds and lots of rolling. I kindly explained that if the ship, Disney or Celebrity, didn’t ‘creak’, bend and flex in high seas, it would break in half and sink. She still thought it was terrible. 

 

thin toilet paper - yes, Thin Toilet Paper! They asked if others had 2-ply type TP in their suites. Everyone posted that wasn’t an issue anywhere on the ship, but they insisted it was much thinner than anything they’d used. I finally chimed in: if your TP is too thin......fold it over. If still thin, fold it again and again. They didn’t appreciate my considered advice. 

 

Poor Service. It was raining at a port, and a poster complained his SR didn’t have an umbrella (legit complaint).He went to the Desk and complained. The Desk person told him they had given away the last umbrella they had there, but offered him her personal umbrella and asked him to return it to her. He took it, but then left it in his SR when they left the ship.......and posted his complaint about poor service. Yup. 

 

Myself, Ive enjoyed every cruise, even one’s on Lines’ I’d not go back on. Pollyanna? Nope, I’ve taken issues to the steward/Maitre de/Front Desk. And if resolved, why post it. Single point failures are not worth talking about. 

 

My biggest complaint: Celebrity doesn’t allow me to personally pick a departure date, length of cruise and ports of call. I have to keep looking for ones that match what I can enjoy......How Inconsiderate!!

 

Den

And therein lies the acumen of what this thread is intended to elicit. Whether or not "Troubled Waters'  is valid here speaks to the health of the product versus the intuitiveness of its customers. 

[Hlitner]

4 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

 

Wish folks would stop saying ships sailing full is a measure of financial health.  It isn't.  Just about every ship sails at or near capacity.  The closely guarded secret is how heavily they had to discount those final cabins.  I've seen ships with over 100 empty cabins a couple of weeks before sailing sell out.  Cruise line and online ta rates never dropped but you know someone somewhere somehow got a great deal.

We snagged a nicely discounted cabin a few months ago on the Summit.  At the time we did this (within the final payment period) there were plenty of available cabins all selling at a decent price.  I recall when LLP took over Celebrity she made a statement that Celebrity would no longer offer last minute discounted prices because it was not fair to early bookers.  I guess she has had to come to grips with the basic economic fact that an empty berth equals opportunity lost revenue.  In other words, they will do what they must to sell those empty cabins.  And they do have other tricks/weapons.  For example, last minute cabins can be made available for Interline rates (these are offered to airline employees and some others in the travel industry at very discounted rates).  So if you paid $250 per passenger day for a balcony cabin you might not realize that the person next door paid $75 per passenger day for the same category.  It is the nature of the travel business.

 

Hank

[Denny01]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

......  So if you paid $250 per passenger day for a balcony cabin you might not realize that the person next door paid $75 per passenger day for the same category.  It is the nature of the travel business.

 

Hank

And its the ‘nature’ of all businesses trying to make a profit. And who cares what someone else paid for a cruise? Personally, there is always someone on your cruise who paid less than you did - just ask go around asking what others paid and share what you paid: someone will be more than willing to tell you, usually lying out the Kazoo, their deal beat yours. That’s why I don’t share what it cost me....on cruise or on this website. My opinion is, it’s tacky and also useless since who knows what the truth is when someone quotes a price. 

 

Den

[Denny01]

5 hours ago, tce40 said:

 

This response is why you're one of my very favorite posters here!  🙂

wow, thanks. But be sure I’ll post something pretty stupid sooner or later. but nice to know there are such perceptive people posting here....hehehe.

 

Den

[bikerunner]

22 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

And its the ‘nature’ of all businesses trying to make a profit. And who cares what someone else paid for a cruise? Personally, there is always someone on your cruise who paid less than you did - just ask go around asking what others paid and share what you paid: someone will be more than willing to tell you, usually lying out the Kazoo, their deal beat yours. That’s why I don’t share what it cost me....on cruise or on this website. My opinion is, it’s tacky and also useless since who knows what the truth is when someone quotes a price. 

 

Den

I only will pay with what I’m comfortable with. I base it on a pp per day number. This includes the whole trip from air to hotel etc.  if the cruise is in my happy area I’m good.  Always have been able to do that with celebrity. I did it with ncl n msc n didn’t enjoy the overall experience on those lines. Celebrity still gives me the best overall experience for myself n family. What others pay that’s there choice. 

[Denny01]

2 minutes ago, bikerunner said:

I only will pay with what I’m comfortable with. I base it on a pp per day number. This includes the whole trip from air to hotel etc.  if the cruise is in my happy area I’m good.  Always have been able to do that with celebrity. I did it with ncl n msc n didn’t enjoy the overall experience on those lines. Celebrity still gives me the best overall experience for myself n family. What others pay that’s there choice. 

Exactly. 

 

Den

[cruise kitty]

6 hours ago, Denny01 said:

So much for consolidating complaints. My TA from Southampton to NYC-Boston-Bermuda-Nassau-FLL (wow!) leaving in 2 weeks. It’s has one Suite and 8 veranda’s available. thats 9 out of 1441 cabins. And the Veranda price is the same as what I paid many, many months ago. 

 

And yes, if you see my signature/list of cruises you’ll see I’m going on other Lines. Because I think Celebrity has gone down hill?? Nope, trying different experiences. Life for someone who is very lucky to be able to do this so many times, that if I don’t watch out, I’ll start complaining that I saw a spot of rust and a worn rug. when that happens, put my on my front porch so I can just sit and yell at the teenagers: “Stay off my lawn, you rotten kids!!”.

 

I realize cruisers have had legit bad experiences, and they show up here because people take the time to come here to point out a real issue (or to complain about paper straws-give me a break!) and don’t come and say positives nearly as much - human nature.

 

But here are a few of my favorite complaint threads I’ve seen on Celebrity:

 

Creaky ship - Lady had sailed on Disney previously and complained that the Celebrity ship ‘made lots of noise and creaks’. I asked her what the sea-state was (well, I asked her if there was lots of winds and waves realizing she’d probably not understand ‘sea-state’). She said the Disney ship had wonderful weather while Celebrity had high winds and lots of rolling. I kindly explained that if the ship, Disney or Celebrity, didn’t ‘creak’, bend and flex in high seas, it would break in half and sink. She still thought it was terrible. 

 

thin toilet paper - yes, Thin Toilet Paper! They asked if others had 2-ply type TP in their suites. Everyone posted that wasn’t an issue anywhere on the ship, but they insisted it was much thinner than anything they’d used. I finally chimed in: if your TP is too thin......fold it over. If still thin, fold it again and again. They didn’t appreciate my considered advice. 

 

Poor Service. It was raining at a port, and a poster complained his SR didn’t have an umbrella (legit complaint).He went to the Desk and complained. The Desk person told him they had given away the last umbrella they had there, but offered him her personal umbrella and asked him to return it to her. He took it, but then left it in his SR when they left the ship.......and posted his complaint about poor service. Yup. 

 

Myself, Ive enjoyed every cruise, even one’s on Lines’ I’d not go back on. Pollyanna? Nope, I’ve taken issues to the steward/Maitre de/Front Desk. And if resolved, why post it. Single point failures are not worth talking about. 

 

My biggest complaint: Celebrity doesn’t allow me to personally pick a departure date, length of cruise and ports of call. I have to keep looking for ones that match what I can enjoy......How Inconsiderate!!

 

Den

 

Love this  hope we can sail together sometime in the future.  You & DH would get along swimmingly :)

[Denny01]

1 minute ago, cruise kitty said:

 

Love this  hope we can sail together sometime in the future.  You & DH would get along swimmingly 🙂

would love to Also. Always great to meet other Great Thinkers such as us!! 

 

Den

[Bo1953]

Just now, Denny01 said:

would love to Also. Always great to meet other Great Thinkers such as us!! 

 

Den

I emote, therefore I Am...???

 

Does this count? LOL

 

bon voyage

[Denny01]

1 minute ago, Bo1953 said:

I emote, therefore I Am...???

 

Does this count? LOL

 

bon voyage

Oh yes, for sure.

 

Den

[Alushar]

12 hours ago, Hlitner said:

  For example, last minute cabins can be made available for Interline rates (these are offered to airline employees and some others in the travel industry at very discounted rates).  So if you paid $250 per passenger day for a balcony cabin you might not realize that the person next door paid $75 per passenger day for the same category.  It is the nature of the travel business.

 

Hank

We  had first hand experience of this a couple of years ago I think Eclipse out of Southampton to Western Med. We had the misfortune of sitting for two dinners and one breakfast with a couple who happily informed all around that they'd only booked on 4 days before as their daughter worked with RCCI and had got an email with mega offers. Despite being in a balcony they had no packages simple room only for peanuts in their words. They were also the most horrible people we've ever met cruising but thats by the by lol!

[TeeRick]

18 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

 

Wish folks would stop saying ships sailing full is a measure of financial health.  It isn't.  Just about every ship sails at or near capacity.  The closely guarded secret is how heavily they had to discount those final cabins.  I've seen ships with over 100 empty cabins a couple of weeks before sailing sell out.  Cruise line and online ta rates never dropped but you know someone somewhere somehow got a great deal.

So Baron B you have some special insight into how Celebrity measures financial health and somehow know their closely guarded secrets?  I am one of those "folks" that you refer to in your response.  I readily admit that I don't know how they measure success.  Perhaps profit statements to shareholders would be an educated guess.   I believe that ships that sail full or with "100 empty cabins" have the same cost to the cruise line- fuel, staff, food, etc.  So discounting at the end and getting people in those cabins by any means necessary helps them by generating cabin revenue and having more people on board to spend money.  I don't think that implies at all that Celebrity is in "troubled waters" referring back to the original question of this thread.