Family Cabins Going Away

[cruisinfly]

A Celebrity rep told me that they are doing away with their Family Veranda category of cabin in 2021 going forward. She didn't know why but I suspect it's a financial decision.

 

I have a family of 5 and was really happy to book this category so we're in the same cabin. Enjoyed it on a cruise on the Equinox last year.

 

I tried to book a cruise for March and they told me these cabins are no longer available and that I should book the Penthouse Suite (at 3x the cost) to fit my family in a single cabin. She said they are doing away with that category of cabin across the entire fleet.

 

Needless to say, I didn't book the cruise and will seek an alternate vacation but I'm disappointed to see this go.

[Fouremco]

Did she mention what they are planning on doing with the space?

[jelayne]

 Beginning with the Infinity, as the ships get revolutionized the FV will be redone as Sunset Suites.  Those new suites will be priced at or above the Celebrity Suites and below the Royal Suites.

 

We booked one for a upcoming cruise on the Eclipse, however with the revolutionizing on a indefinite hold we are waiting to see what X will do since they won’t have Sunset Suites in place.

[39august]

These are being changed to suite category. The work was done during the Silhoutte "revolution", but not on the Equinox as they ran out of time on that refit. However, I understand that regardless of whether the inside has been redone. these will all be reclassed as  suites. At least that was the plan prior to Covid. 

Edited July 31, 2020 by 39august

[jelayne]

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/staterooms/suite-class/sunset-suite

 

Here is more info on these suites.

 

@39august I think X will have difficulty selling an former FV without updating at the prices they were booking.  When we booked our Sunset Suite it was priced $1800pp over a. CS and $1100 pp less than a RS.

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, cruisinfly said:

A Celebrity rep told me that they are doing away with their Family Veranda category of cabin in 2021 going forward. She didn't know why but I suspect it's a financial decision.

 

I have a family of 5 and was really happy to book this category so we're in the same cabin. Enjoyed it on a cruise on the Equinox last year.

 

I tried to book a cruise for March and they told me these cabins are no longer available and that I should book the Penthouse Suite (at 3x the cost) to fit my family in a single cabin. She said they are doing away with that category of cabin across the entire fleet.

 

Needless to say, I didn't book the cruise and will seek an alternate vacation but I'm disappointed to see this go.

 

Totally understand but family accommodation has never been a strength of Celebrity.

 

Suggest you look at RC which is far more ‘family friendly’ in terms of accommodation. We loved the the Aqua suites on Oasis class...Several other options too on all classes.

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, cruisinfly said:

A Celebrity rep told me that they are doing away with their Family Veranda category of cabin in 2021 going forward. She didn't know why but I suspect it's a financial decision.

 

I have a family of 5 and was really happy to book this category so we're in the same cabin. Enjoyed it on a cruise on the Equinox last year.

 

I tried to book a cruise for March and they told me these cabins are no longer available and that I should book the Penthouse Suite (at 3x the cost) to fit my family in a single cabin. She said they are doing away with that category of cabin across the entire fleet.

 

Needless to say, I didn't book the cruise and will seek an alternate vacation but I'm disappointed to see this go.

 

Yes, it is a pity to see them disappear like that.  We have benefited from these oversized cabins since they first appeared in 1996 on the Century class ships although they debuted as outside cabins (FO).  But the demand was not evidently there.  Millennium class ships had 12 family (veranda) cabins and Solstice class ships only had 4.  Edge class has zero and soon the rest of the fleet will follow.   

[MamaFej]

Obviously this decision was made by people with more marketing experience than I have, but it seems counter-intuitive to me if they really are trying to appeal to Gen-Xers like me and Millennials behind us. Our generations'  kids range from infants to young adults. Family cabins definitely appeal to us, personally, and likely to many others. It's my understanding that these sell out very early. We've never been able to snag one.  @mahdnc has posted pictures and the floor plan, and I've found it to be ideal. My young adult kids have only sailed Celebrity, and they love it. Royal does not appeal to us at all. 

 

Yes, the suites generate more revenue than other cabins, but fewer people can afford them. 

 

The bean counters know better than I do, I imagine.

[Fouremco]

3 hours ago, jelayne said:

 Beginning with the Infinity, as the ships get revolutionized the FV will be redone as Sunset Suites.  Those new suites will be priced at or above the Celebrity Suites and below the Royal Suites.

 

We booked one for a upcoming cruise on the Eclipse, however with the revolutionizing on a indefinite hold we are waiting to see what X will do since they won’t have Sunset Suites in place.

Of course, I knew that! I went for routine fasting blood work this morning and posted the question before my morning caffeine fix. Thanks for being gentle! 

 

1 hour ago, MamaFej said:

Obviously this decision was made by people with more marketing experience than I have, but it seems counter-intuitive to me if they really are trying to appeal to Gen-Xers like me and Millennials behind us.

Maybe they are trying to encourage couples and not families but without coming out with a bold statement to that effect.

[MamaFej]

2 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Maybe they are trying to encourage couples and not families but without coming out with a bold statement to that effect.

Possibly, but they also ran a kids sail free special last year. Oh, well, it's above my pay grade.

[cruisinfly]

3 hours ago, chemmo said:

 

Totally understand but family accommodation has never been a strength of Celebrity.

 

Suggest you look at RC which is far more ‘family friendly’ in terms of accommodation. We loved the the Aqua suites on Oasis class...Several other options too on all classes.

 

My kids have been on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Disney, NCL, and Carnival cruises.  Celebrity is their favorite.  (Mine too.)  The family cabins were very popular and hard to get. I'm guessing the "profit per square foot" wasn't as high as they want it to be.

 

Very few cruise lines accommodate 5 people in a cabin comfortably. That was a unique selling proposition for Celebrity. Now it's not. (Vacations and even hotels, with a few exceptions, aren't really designed for families with 5+ members.)

[upwarduk]

The disadvantage of the FV was only one bathroom.

[phoenix_dream]

Sad to see the FV go - I'm sure it's all about revenue per square foot.  I suggest the OP try to snag connecting cabins.  That way you also have two bathrooms rather than one.   Depending on the age of the kids, getting an inside cabin across the hall for the older kids can work out as well.

[Turtles06]

My wife and I have been fortunate to snag a corner FV twice for just the two of us, years ago on the Infinity for a westbound TA, and, just last September, for a New England/Canada cruise on the just-revolutionized Summit.  These are wonderful cabins, and it doesn’t surprise me (although of course it disappoints me) that Celebrity has turned them into suites to get more money for them. 
 

If anyone would like to see what the corner FV now looks like on the Summit, I posted an extensive review of it, with photos, here: 

 

 

 

[Blackduck59]

As others have said, it's no surprise that these very large cabins are going to be billed as suites (revolutionized or not). The whole "revolution" has been all about the suites with very little in the way of improvements for other categories. On the "S" class ships the size is definitely worthy of being a "suite" the location maybe not so much.

[BEAV]

We started sailing the M-class FV’s when Infinity appeared in 2001. We continued to sail them off and on (7 times total...always a corner!) through 2015. We were only a party of two. Our experience was they only seemed to become available (for a party of two) after final payment time, suggesting they were restricted for families (understandable) prior to that. But we found once they were released to general inventory, there were quite a few (of the 12) available. To us, this meant they hadn’t sold all that well to parties of 4 or 5. But then again, we didn’t travel over holidays, summer, or itineraries that would be popular for families. I remember on one particular cruise we were in a corner FV and our neighbor next door was sailing solo. Several times we’d book a standard balcony, then upgrade to FV after final payment when they were released to general inventory. 

 

They were by far the most interesting non-Suite category we’ve ever sailed. 

 

RIP you beautiful M-class FV’s! Enjoyed every minute sailing in you! 

[Laurab23]

I had an FV booked on Summit for this past May but it was cancelled. Sounds like I won't be getting another one.

 

Laura

[BEAV]

9 hours ago, jelayne said:

 Beginning with the Infinity, as the ships get revolutionized the FV will be redone as Sunset Suites.  Those new suites will be priced at or above the Celebrity Suites and below the Royal Suites.

 

Are they going to continue to be sold as FV’s on Millie and Summit? 

[jelayne]

49 minutes ago, BEAV said:

 

Are they going to continue to be sold as FV’s on Millie and Summit? 

I would hope so.  The bathroom & shower would need a rework before I would call it suite worthy.
 

[BEAV]

Definitely. Their one and only drawback. 

[Turtles06]

9 hours ago, BEAV said:

Our experience was they only seemed to become available (for a party of two) after final payment time, suggesting they were restricted for families (understandable) prior to that.

On the two occasions when my wife and I were lucky to snag corner FVs, it was well before final payment. As I mentioned above, one was a fall TA, the other a September New England/Canada cruise, both sailings with very few children.  I’m sure that whatever algorithms Celebrity used to predict when to release the FVs for general booking, they knew that cruises that long and of that type, especially during the school year, would have few children.
 

[bikerunner]

Makes sense for celebrity to convert these to a different price range.  I was in one twice great room for price especially when having other family friends travel with you. Good gathering spot etc.  they should have charged more from the beginning but with figuring out cost benifits was definitely in favor of customer by a lot in getting one of these.  

[ORV]

On the M class the room size is nice, but the corner balconies are fantastic. I think the only one larger is the PH. 

[phoenix_dream]

18 hours ago, BEAV said:

We started sailing the M-class FV’s when Infinity appeared in 2001. We continued to sail them off and on (7 times total...always a corner!) through 2015. We were only a party of two. Our experience was they only seemed to become available (for a party of two) after final payment time, suggesting they were restricted for families (understandable) prior to that. But we found once they were released to general inventory, there were quite a few (of the 12) available. To us, this meant they hadn’t sold all that well to parties of 4 or 5. But then again, we didn’t travel over holidays, summer, or itineraries that would be popular for families. I remember on one particular cruise we were in a corner FV and our neighbor next door was sailing solo. Several times we’d book a standard balcony, then upgrade to FV after final payment when they were released to general inventory. 

 

They were by far the most interesting non-Suite category we’ve ever sailed. 

 

RIP you beautiful M-class FV’s! Enjoyed every minute sailing in you! 

I remember in the very beginning they were actually considered just another balcony cabin and priced accordingly.  Didn't take them too long to determine they could call them something else and charge more (understandably so, but it was nice while it lasted!)

[mahdnc]

On 7/31/2020 at 4:31 PM, cruisinfly said:

 

My kids have been on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Disney, NCL, and Carnival cruises.  Celebrity is their favorite.  (Mine too.)  The family cabins were very popular and hard to get. I'm guessing the "profit per square foot" wasn't as high as they want it to be.

 

Very few cruise lines accommodate 5 people in a cabin comfortably. That was a unique selling proposition for Celebrity. Now it's not. (Vacations and even hotels, with a few exceptions, aren't really designed for families with 5+ members.)

 

Agreed.  The S class FVs had interior cabin space that was 3x bigger than a standard cabin.  So I am sure that the revenue or profit per sq ft was pretty dismal.