Celebrity lagging

[floridacruisers]

 As the OP I should have said lagging behind Princess in my text instead of slipping. My bad. Here's my take:

...We're Elite Plus on Celebrity with 25 cruises and 3 stars on HAL so I'm familiar with those products. Tried Princess a few times and didn't bother again. Celebrity and HAL are better IMHO. 

...With that, I think Celebrity should be ahead of Princess and close to HAL. All I did was report what was written.  I think HAL and Celebrity are close but different lines.

... Am going on Celebrity Reflection this winter then HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam in the late fall. Like them both for different reasons.

...Haven't done Edge because I think it is way overpriced. Not sure if that's part of the issue here with the rankings. With such modern beautiful ships as the S class I'm not sure I want to spend the extra big bucks for Edge. Haven't been on any revolutionized Celebrity ships which is why we're on the Reflection..

 

  Phil...........floridacruisers 

[ipeeinthepool]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Pretty hard to do when you get rid of the Sky Lounge, sell rooms with moveable windows as balconies, and your Magic Carpet needs to be renamed the Very Windy Carpet, and they are still working out the bugs.

 

So, do you think it will be a problem if they build more ships with the same features.

Edited October 16, 2019 by ipeeinthepool

[Eva 51]

4 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

 

I concur with Hlitner's assessment. The decline of the fundamentals of Celebrity's former quality commenced in 2015.

 

It was the edible oil coffee creamer (not cream) delivered to my room in February 2015 which was the beginning of the decline for our household. 

 

It really can be the little things that end a relationship.

 

Agree.    My last cruise  we ate in BLU.  One night we ate in main dining because we were too late.   I had onion soup.   Used to be “ yummy “.  Now Worse soup I’ve ever had.   

[Pickels]

Just like political polls; don't mean a thing!

[NMTraveller]

2 hours ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

So, do you think it will be a problem if they build more ships with the same features.

I would say yes.  
 

I view these changes as negatives.

 

The magic carpet can be fixed if they so choose to.

 

A balcony should be a balcony.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Eva 51 said:

 

Agree.    My last cruise  we ate in BLU.  One night we ate in main dining because we were too late.   I had onion soup.   Used to be “ yummy “.  Now Worse soup I’ve ever had.   

Interesting.  We were on the Summit in early summer and I was quite disappointed in the French Onion Soup, which used to be really good on Celebrity.  But something changed with the actual soup.  It still had the usual cheese but I thought the soup was more like an onion broth then the old soup which usually had lots of onions on the bottom.  At the time I assumed it was just a fluke or perhaps the soup cook had a bad day.  That soup has always been on the "secret menu" in Blu and was available for the asking.

 

Hank

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Pretty hard to do when you get rid of the Sky Lounge, sell rooms with moveable windows as balconies, and your Magic Carpet needs to be renamed the Very Windy Carpet, and they are still working out the bugs.

Can't imagine not having the Sky Lounge whether it's for getting away and chilling out on a sea day, evening CC HH or other entertainment venues during the day or evening. Bummer! 

[NMTraveller]

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

Can't imagine not having the Sky Lounge whether it's for getting away and chilling out on a sea day, evening CC HH or other entertainment venues during the day or evening. Bummer! 

The Sky Lounge was my favorite place on the ship.  Now my preference is for non Edge ships or HAL.

[davekathy]

5 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

The Sky Lounge was my favorite place on the ship.  Now my preference is for non Edge ships or HAL.

We haven't even shown any interest in the Edge. Personal preference. If all Celebrity future builds are modeled after the Edge we won't book them either. 

Edited October 16, 2019 by davekathy

[blueboro]

The only poll I pay attention to is my experience...which is HAL is below X (based on smoking in most casinos and other little things) and Princess is well below (based on overcrowding, small balconies on new ships, and smoking in casinos). 

[davekathy]

3 minutes ago, blueboro said:

The only poll I pay attention to is my experience...which is HAL is below X (based on smoking in most casinos and other little things) and Princess is well below (based on overcrowding, small balconies on new ships, and smoking in casinos). 

Based on smoking in the casinos you won't like RC either. 

[kelmac]

6 hours ago, floridacruisers said:

 As the OP I should have said lagging behind Princess in my text instead of slipping. My bad. Here's my take:

...We're Elite Plus on Celebrity with 25 cruises and 3 stars on HAL so I'm familiar with those products. Tried Princess a few times and didn't bother again. Celebrity and HAL are better IMHO. 

...With that, I think Celebrity should be ahead of 😄Princess and close to HAL. All I did was report what was written.  I think HAL and Celebrity are close but different lines.

... Am going on Celebrity Reflection this winter then HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam in the late fall. Like them both for different reasons.

...Haven't done Edge because I think it is way overpriced. Not sure if that's part of the issue here with the rankings. With such modern beautiful ships as the S class I'm not sure I want to spend the extra big bucks for Edge. Haven't been on any revolutionized Celebrity ships which is why we're on the Reflection..

 

  Phil...........floridacruisers 

Phil,

I agree 100%.  We are Elite Plus on Celebrity; three star on HAL; almost Diamond Plus on RCL; enjoy the YC on MSC;  if the price is right, NCL can be ok;  we have over 100 days on Cunard, and Princess is not even on our radar.  We've tried it three times and it's not bad, it's just plain and very average.

Most magazine polls are based on how much advertising a cruise line is willing to take on.  RCL and Celebrity would get way better ratings if they advertised with CN.  

 

Enjoy!

Kel😃

[Baron Barracuda]

For a time we received almost daily emails from Viking imploring us to vote for them in this survey.  We love their product but were put off by the idea of stuffing the ballot box.  They obviously place great importance on these rankings.  Don't know if other lines do as well.   

[4774Papa]

Many seem to believe that Celebrity has declines significantly in recent years.

 

Our last two Celebrity cruises were March/April 2019 and Oct/Nov 2017.   

In general, we are seeing the same level of service and dining.   Since we have done so many X cruises, I must admit that production shows get tiresome after the fourth or fifth time.

 

Changes like the end of the end of cruise brunch, the downsizing of the wonderful Crepe Suzette and a few other such items, we don't find a huge difference from 2011-2015.

However, we are unhappy with the bundled pricing for promos that we don't want.  Still we can find cruises without the bundled price, but they seem to be more inflated than they once were.

 

We like Royal Caribbean's entertainment and their dining and service is close enough to Celebrity's.  Their pricing is why we are going in that direction.

[PTC DAWG]

3 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I would say yes.  
 

I view these changes as negatives.

 

The magic carpet can be fixed if they so choose to.

 

A balcony should be a balcony.

So you’ve sailed the Edge?  It intrigues me...thinking of it this Sprimg..

[the_dylaness]

12 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

 

I concur with Hlitner's assessment. The decline of the fundamentals of Celebrity's former quality commenced in 2015.

 

It was the edible oil coffee creamer (not cream) delivered to my room in February 2015 which was the beginning of the decline for our household. 

 

It really can be the little things that end a relationship.

 

Is half and half no longer available for morning coffee delivery service (!??!?!??!)

[DebInAntigua]

21 hours ago, the_dylaness said:

 

Is half and half no longer available for morning coffee delivery service (!??!?!??!)

NOOOOOOOO... say it's not so!

[davekathy]

On 10/16/2019 at 7:02 PM, the_dylaness said:

 

Is half and half no longer available for morning coffee delivery service (!??!?!??!)

Summit, September 2019...we had an early excursion one day so we did the room service breakfast. My wife drinks coffee and requested half n half. No problem.  She also had to request half n half each morning in the MDR. No problem. 

Edited October 18, 2019 by davekathy

[ABoatNerd]

I take it that you have to ask for cream, the default is fake creamer.

 

Pathetic - that is Celebrity's example of "modern luxury".

 

Yes, it has been a very long drop in quality from the Celebrity of the 1990's.

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

I take it that you have to ask for cream, the default is fake creamer.

 

Pathetic - that is Celebrity's example of "modern luxury".

 

Yes, it has been a very long drop in quality from the Celebrity of the 1990's.

If you don't ask  you get milk for your coffee. 

Edited October 18, 2019 by davekathy

[C-Dragons]

On 10/16/2019 at 3:03 PM, davekathy said:

Can't imagine not having the Sky Lounge whether it's for getting away and chilling out on a sea day, evening CC HH or other entertainment venues during the day or evening. Bummer! 

Eden is the replacement for the Sky Lounge and is used for the occasions/events you mentioned.

[NMTraveller]

1 minute ago, C-Dragons said:

Eden is the replacement for the Sky Lounge and is used for the occasions/events you mentioned.

It is on the wrong end of the ship.  You always had Tuscan Grill for the view out of the rear.  Eden is loud and Sky Lounge is quiet.  A very different experience and a downgrade.

[C-Dragons]

On 10/16/2019 at 3:10 PM, davekathy said:

We haven't even shown any interest in the Edge. Personal preference. If all Celebrity future builds are modeled after the Edge we won't book them either. 

The only other X ship being built like the Edge is her twin, Apex.

Beyond, the next new build, is supposed to be larger and different from Edge and Apex.

[C-Dragons]

2 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

It is on the wrong end of the ship.  You always had Tuscan Grill for the view out of the rear.  Eden is loud and Sky Lounge is quiet.  A very different experience and a downgrade.

Respectfully, we will have to disagree.

[NMTraveller]

2 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Respectfully, we will have to disagree.

Eden can be tough to find a seat that is unobstructed, Sky Lounge is easy.