Latest Message from LLP regarding Crew

[Loracpin2]

1 hour ago, paulh84 said:

CC is one of the few places I have seen that people will endlessly bash a product, leadership, decisions, specific people, etc. then the next post is "well once I complete my next 316 cruises with Celebrity and book 9 more...we are done!!! No more! When do bookings for 2023 open???"  🤔

For the last 12 years, we have taken 2 cruises a year with Celebrity with the last one this past January on the Reflection and the second one would have been this September, also on the Reflection, which we cancelled at the beginning of March.  We have no intentions of booking any cruises in 2021 and the RCI Family cruise we intended to book for 2022 to celebrate our 55th Anniversary (praying we are still healthy and able) will now most likely to turn into a land celebration.  

[registrar]

Elite 

Did not receive e-mail

[Miaminice]

This is an interesting read with some background:

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/05/royal-caribbean-executives-agree-to-terms-for-disembarking-crew-stuck-on-ships/?fbclid=IwAR2-9hMEB7zlKue7hdnopG019OljfgWfPkn032l0DR8oADUIqZsB9htAag4
 

TBH I would not have signed terms as these for our company with only 50 people!

Taking personal legal responsibility for the behavior of thousands... no way!

[Georgia_Peaches]

8 minutes ago, Miaminice said:

This is an interesting read with some background:

https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2020/05/05/royal-caribbean-executives-agree-to-terms-for-disembarking-crew-stuck-on-ships/?fbclid=IwAR2-9hMEB7zlKue7hdnopG019OljfgWfPkn032l0DR8oADUIqZsB9htAag4
 

TBH I would not have signed terms as these for our company with only 50 people!

Taking personal legal responsibility for the behavior of thousands... no way!

They are sticking their necks out for sure.  This is a great risk to take on the responsibility of becoming personally liable for the actions of others once they leave the ships.  Have to say, it puts the leadership in a different light...one that will get little press, I'm afraid.  Am I the only one who thinks the CDC may be wielding too much power here?

[TeeRick]

Maybe they sent the email only to cruisers under 70 years old.  Sorry could not resist! 😃

[Miaminice]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Have to say, it puts the leadership in a different light...one that will get little press, I'm afraid.

Why should it? Fingerpointing and bashing without having to bother about facts and backgrounds is so much more  fun 😀😉

Edited May 8, 2020 by Miaminice

[Jeremiah1212]

52 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

They are sticking their necks out for sure.  This is a great risk to take on the responsibility of becoming personally liable for the actions of others once they leave the ships.  Have to say, it puts the leadership in a different light...one that will get little press, I'm afraid.  Am I the only one who thinks the CDC may be wielding too much power here?

For sure. I think the CDC chose the cruise industry as a target to flex some muscle. Their requirements for crew repatriation were incredibly strict and nearly unrealistic to follow. Some guidelines would probably be unenforceable if it came down to it. I’m really surprised the cruise lines have adhered in the way they have really. 

[bEwAbG]

This CDC response is what you get when one cannot be trusted to do the right thing.  The cruise industry is being treated with the same respect they gave early on by relying so heavily on governments to take care of their problems for them.  Several of the lines have already proven that they are perfectly willing to tell half-truths if not outright lies to push any problems away from themselves as fast as possible.  The CDC is telling them they have to have control of the crew until they're on their way to where they are going.  The criminal penalties are necessary to ensure compliance.  Otherwise, the execs would just plead ignorance when groups are "mistakenly" told to catch the local bus to the airport.  They want to balk at the requirements?  They own ships that can sail anywhere in the world.  Go deal with another country.

Edited May 10, 2020 by bEwAbG

[Georgia_Peaches]

6 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

This CDC response is what you get when one cannot be trusted to do the right thing.  The cruise industry is being treated with the same respect they gave early on by relying so heavily on governments to take care of their problems for them.  Several of the lines have already proven that they are perfectly willing to tell half-truths if not outright lies to push any problems away from themselves as fast as possible.  The CDC is telling them they have to have control of the crew until they're on their way to where they are going.  The criminal penalties are necessary to ensure compliance.  Otherwise, the execs would just plead ignorance when groups are "mistakenly" told to catch the local bus to the airport.  They want to balk at the requirements?  They own ships that can sail anywhere in the world.  Go deal with another country.

One of the things I genuinely appreciate about CC is the many views and opinions that exist on angles I might not have otherwise thought about.  You make some compelling observations.  Thanks for sharing and for doing so in a way that doesn't bash others who may have a differing view.  I completely agree with you regarding trust.  I believe there are going to be significant trust issues moving forward.

[EscapeFromConnecticut]

23 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

This CDC response is what you get when one cannot be trusted to do the right thing.  The cruise industry is being treated with the same respect they gave early on by relying so heavily on governments to take care of their problems for them.  Several of the lines have already proven that they are perfectly willing to tell half-truths if not outright lies to push any problems away from themselves as fast as possible.  The CDC is telling them they have to have control of the crew until they're on their way to where they are going.  The criminal penalties are necessary to ensure compliance.  Otherwise, the execs would just plead ignorance when groups are "mistakenly" told to catch the local bus to the airport.  They want to balk at the requirements?  They own ships that can sail anywhere in the world.  Go deal with another country.

Excellent analysis. What so many of the cheerleaders overlook is that this time, the cruise industry has TRULY shot its foot off.

    From the viewpoint of the public as well as regulators, the cruise executives' bungling this time is far, far worse than anything in the past. Worse than Concordia, the sewage cruise, the fires, broken aziopods, the Princess "magic pipe," the onboard sex assaults ... those were seen as isolated, but the coronavirus mess is a long-running debacle. 
    From  Diamond up to Coral, from bad decisions to lies to botched attempts to blame the CDC to the refund delays ... nobody has done more this spring to hurt the reputation of cruising than the industry's leaders themselves 

[volcam98]

My wife and I have sailed with Celebrity since 2003, are Captain's Club members, and receive regular e-mail messages from the cruise line. This particular message is the latest of many that have been sent this year. We have had excellent experiences on every cruise with Celebrity and are excited to cruise with them as soon as this fall. For us, the dining, shore excursions and interactions with onboard staff and officers are wonderful. I understand the frustrations of waiting on refunds and/or future cruise credits, but patience is required as everyone deals with this unprecedented pandemic.

[Mojogurued]

5 hours ago, EscapeFromConnecticut said:

Excellent analysis. What so many of the cheerleaders overlook is that this time, the cruise industry has TRULY shot its foot off.

    From the viewpoint of the public as well as regulators, the cruise executives' bungling this time is far, far worse than anything in the past. Worse than Concordia, the sewage cruise, the fires, broken aziopods, the Princess "magic pipe," the onboard sex assaults ... those were seen as isolated, but the coronavirus mess is a long-running debacle. 
    From  Diamond up to Coral, from bad decisions to lies to botched attempts to blame the CDC to the refund delays ... nobody has done more this spring to hurt the reputation of cruising than the industry's leaders themselves 

 

And meanwhile the airlines - hotels - subways - buses, everyone else gets a 100% free pass. The Coast Guard and politicians and health organizations can give the cruise lines bad info and disembarkation approvals - oops! The cruise lines get to be everyone's scapegoat once again, even for cruisers.

 

[Mojogurued]

3 hours ago, volcam98 said:

My wife and I have sailed with Celebrity since 2003, are Captain's Club members, and receive regular e-mail messages from the cruise line. This particular message is the latest of many that have been sent this year. We have had excellent experiences on every cruise with Celebrity and are excited to cruise with them as soon as this fall. For us, the dining, shore excursions and interactions with onboard staff and officers are wonderful. I understand the frustrations of waiting on refunds and/or future cruise credits, but patience is required as everyone deals with this unprecedented pandemic.

 

THIS!

[bouhunter]

On 5/7/2020 at 1:29 PM, paulh84 said:

CC is one of the few places I have seen that people will endlessly bash a product, leadership, decisions, specific people, etc. then the next post is "well once I complete my next 316 cruises with Celebrity and book 9 more...we are done!!! No more! When do bookings for 2023 open???"  🤔

Well said, thanks for the laugh!

[volcam98]

18 hours ago, Mojogurued said:

 

THIS!

My praise of Celebrity must not be to your liking. I took time to post our experiences with Celebrity, but I suppose that positive experiences must be met with cynicism. I can add that not one of our many cruises with Celebrity was perfect, but I can also certainly add that any problems we encountered were handled professionally by the onboard staff. If my positive statement is beneath your standards of posting on this forum, I apologize.

[Germancruiser]

Sure they made mistakes in the beginning. I just find it a triffle unfair to point with fingers to them.

They simply were overwhelmed with a situation unprecedenced. No rules in the books how to act. A whole ship under quarantine- the decisions taken out of either the captains or the cruise lines hand- in case of the Diamond Princess.

I am also waiting for my refunds from Cunard and Celebrity, also from Lufthansa.

What absolutley agree of- they all- with almost no exception- have over exapanded. Even if they reopen sometime this year- which I very much dout- I fear we will see many ships in cold lay up.

[Georgia_Peaches]

8 hours ago, volcam98 said:

My praise of Celebrity must not be to your liking. I took time to post our experiences with Celebrity, but I suppose that positive experiences must be met with cynicism. I can add that not one of our many cruises with Celebrity was perfect, but I can also certainly add that any problems we encountered were handled professionally by the onboard staff. If my positive statement is beneath your standards of posting on this forum, I apologize.

Actually, the poster was agreeing with you.  When one says, "THIS", it's his/her way of saying that your words were exactly what they would have said.  It was a compliment.  🙂

[phoenix_dream]

On 5/6/2020 at 10:56 PM, omeinv said:

Perhaps Ms. Lutoff-Perlo is being disingenuous about the messages she receives, OR perhaps most people realize that refunds on this scale are unprecedented, and have some patience. 

 

Honestly the idea that every communication from Celebrity should be focused on refunds is evidence of selfishness of the first order.  The refunds are happening.  If you can't stand waiting, dispute it on your credit card. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

For people who have tens of thousands of dollars they are waiting for, and perhaps really need the money because they have lost their jobs, perhaps selfishness is not the correct definition!

[phoenix_dream]

On 5/7/2020 at 5:18 AM, Georgia_Peaches said:

Clearly the e-mail is a result of a PR campaign to hold on to loyal customers.  Is that cynical?  IMO the truth lies somewhere in the middle regarding the crew.  I have no doubt that some have spent some pretty lonely hours in isolation (on some ships) while others may have enjoyed more freedoms.  To be certain, living in limbo on a ship has to be hell for those who just want to get home.

 

I think addressing refunds is legitimate.  I'm still waiting on mine.  But I think the best PR move LLP can make at this point is to compose an email that cuts through the feel good fluff and gets to the heart of what's on people's minds.

Be transparent about:

• What health safety measures are you putting place for when cruising resumes?
• What do you anticipate operations to look like for Celebrity pre-vaccine?
• What's the reason behind the lengthy refund process?

At this point, I will remain loyal, Lisa...give me some transparency in return.  

Agree 100%.  I think this email was released specifically to counteract the bad news reports of the remaining crew left stranded onboard a number of ships.  Of course I care about the crew - they are the best!  But I think this email is about PR, not the crew.  I also totally agree on your bullet points.  How about some communication of where things stand, what the plans are going forward to the extent they're known, etc..!!  I was a project manager in my work life.  I would never get away with not giving regular status reports to my users letting them know what was going on and what the next steps were.  Never!  We are getting absolutely nothing in the way of that information from LLP.  Zero.  Just occasional PR emails that don't tell us a darn thing.  This, above everything else, is causing my 28 years (and 60 or so cruises) of loyalty to go down the tubes.  

[volcam98]

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Actually, the poster was agreeing with you.  When one says, "THIS", it's his/her way of saying that your words were exactly what they would have said.  It was a compliment.  🙂

Thank you for your clarification! I took the capitalization and single word entirely the wrong way. I appreciate the explanation!

[omeinv]

3 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

For people who have tens of thousands of dollars they are waiting for, and perhaps really need the money because they have lost their jobs, perhaps selfishness is not the correct definition!

I agree that those folks would have reason to be concerned, and those would be the people I would advise to file a credit card dispute, to at least prevent the imposition of finance charges. 

 

While understandable for those in that position, the constant connection of every communication from Celebrity into a rant about a refund does nothing to speed up the refund, and casts a pall over otherwise useful threads.

 

Again, I understand the motivation, and appreciate your point that those people are driven to their position by frustration.  I credit you with more compassion than I have demonstrated, and thank you for that.  Your understanding of that position is obviously the same level of understanding I am asking for from the people posting; even if it does point out a shortcoming of mine.

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[PTC DAWG]

On 5/8/2020 at 8:05 AM, Georgia_Peaches said:

Am I the only one who thinks the CDC may be wielding too much power here?

No...

[deliver42]

Not at all.

[Mojogurued]

When CEOs and Presidents of the other cruise lines quit, I expect LLP would have to be dragged out of her office. Celebrity has become her baby and she's not going to give up on us so easy just because times are tough.  Seabourn - Holland America - Azamara, anyone else throwing in the towel? I can't even blame them but credit where credit is due.

[NordicPrince]

23 hours ago, Mojogurued said:

When CEOs and Presidents of the other cruise lines quit, I expect LLP would have to be dragged out of her office. Celebrity has become her baby and she's not going to give up on us so easy just because times are tough.  Seabourn - Holland America - Azamara, anyone else throwing in the towel? I can't even blame them but credit where credit is due.

What makes you think the other cruise line heads threw in the towel\quit? They were fired\let go\told to retire. Involuntary.