Does Celebrity ever officially comment on Cruise Critic ?

[runningtide]

I’ve been told Celebrity, as well as other lines monitor discussions on Cruise Critic. Has anyone ever seen an official response from Celebrity to any issues raised on this board. God knows they would have their pick !

[cruiserchuck]

I have seen some in the past, but not lately.

[travlr21]

I believe this is their account, last post March 2020.   @Celebrity Cruises

[runningtide]

3 minutes ago, travlr21 said:

I believe this is their account, last post March 2020.   @Celebrity Cruises

Very interesting .  Thanks so much for the response. 

[Jim_Iain]

A couple years ago they use to post but would shy away from anything in detail.    I do believe they monitor the thread but haven't seen them post in a couple years.

[Northern Aurora]

I actually met the Celebrity employee who, at that time, monitored the Celebrity CC board.  While I met the person several years ago I also believe the Celebrity continues to monitor this board.

[dkjretired]

Over the time they posted there were really two types of posts, first they just quoted from the web site, nothing else. Later, the woman mentioned went further and gave more definitive answers. Then, nothing.

[phoenix_dream]

Agreed, haven't seen Celebrity posts in a very long time.  Whether they still read the posts I don't know.  Frankly, I've never (in my 29 years and 50 cruises on Celebrity) noticed them changing anything that seemed to be in relation to threads on Cruise Critic.  If they did, they would have updated their Elite Plus benefits years ago🙂

[rucrazy]

For that matter do any of the cruise  lines post on here on a "regular" basis?

[JRG]

I've seen another line respond when there was a PR crisis,  and then they disappeared,  years between posts.

 

They are there.    It's a good thing.

[bEwAbG]

When I first joined in 2015 the person manning the official account was pretty active and gave detailed answers.  Then it changed to very scripted answers that sometimes would answer questions and sometimes wasn't even related to the topic.  I recall that this was around the time they were changing their website, and it was a big disaster for several months.  The person who oversaw the earlier version of the account posted here under a new username a few years later.  They said there had been a change in direction when a new Marketing person was brought on to run things (and I think they were a former employee at this point).  Sad to see.  It was helpful to have an official presence on this board.  Now they only seem to chime in sporadically.

[dkjretired]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Agreed, haven't seen Celebrity posts in a very long time.  Whether they still read the posts I don't know.  Frankly, I've never (in my 29 years and 50 cruises on Celebrity) noticed them changing anything that seemed to be in relation to threads on Cruise Critic.  If they did, they would have updated their Elite Plus benefits years ago🙂

They did change one thing, LLP started putting in expensive hamburgers at the grill by the pool. This board erupted and it was changed a short time later.

[Shadow9612]

Don't forget about the time we had a whole subforum devoted to discussions with LLP directly.

 

I would have liked to get PUPs for contributions to threads with LLP!

Edited July 30, 2021 by Shadow9612
Grammar

[WonderMan3]

They definitely used to monitor these boards as I recall a few years back doing one of my "live from" threads here and noting that a few days into my cruise in my suite they did not have the Bulgari toiletries not too long after there had been some sort of PR announcement about amenity upgrades that included bringing back Bulgari which I think had been temporarily replaced. Mind you it wasn't a big deal but I noted it because people had been talking here on the boards about amenities not appearing as promoted. By the next day's cabin cleaning the substitute products had been removed and I had an array of all the Bulgari toiletries. Another time a crew member onboard referenced my "live from" thread which indicated to me that the ship was getting feedback or questions from corporate based on things I was reporting. Honestly, I would think corporate would appreciate live reports like some of us do here as it gives them the opportunity to identify issues in real time.

[Jim_Iain]

17 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Agreed, haven't seen Celebrity posts in a very long time.  Whether they still read the posts I don't know.  Frankly, I've never (in my 29 years and 50 cruises on Celebrity) noticed them changing anything that seemed to be in relation to threads on Cruise Critic.  If they did, they would have updated their Elite Plus benefits years ago🙂

I remember when they discontinued the little chocolates on the pillows.   There was outrage here and the policy was reversed rather quickly.   Whether it was CC or general complaints I don't know.

[CTKath]

I remember when Frank Del Rio (when he was the head of Oceania Cruises) would post all the time.  It was great knowing he was watching and reading everyone's comments.  Now he's the CEO of Norwegian!

[graphicguy]

45 minutes ago, CTKath said:

I remember when Frank Del Rio (when he was the head of Oceania Cruises) would post all the time.  It was great knowing he was watching and reading everyone's comments.  Now he's the CEO of Norwegian!

And not particularly embraced by the NCL customers.

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 7/29/2021 at 7:34 PM, rucrazy said:

For that matter do any of the cruise  lines post on here on a "regular" basis?

Azamara used to have an person with the title 'Chief Blogging Officer' – she left shortly before Covid shut everything down, but now they have an official account that posts fairly frequently.  She was the gold standard – she had access to upper management and it was her job to report complaints and suggestions up the line and then report back on the response.  She was very good at fixing individual glitches and at least explained decisions we didn't like even if she couldn't change them [e.g. she got Royal Club tonic replaced, but not by FeverTree]

 

The volunteer CC Host on Crystal was actually hired by them to serve a similar function, but that didn't last very long and now his valuable efforts are lost to both CC and Crystal...

 

Some other cruise lines also have official accounts and post regularly, including Viking and the new Victory Cruise Line.  So it's not uncommon, but few of them go beyond quoting their corporate website or repeating the same scripts you get from the phone reps.

[rucrazy]

14 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

So it's not uncommon, but few of them go beyond quoting their corporate website or repeating the same scripts you get from the phone reps

Thank you @Host Jazzbeau for a wonderful explanation.

Agree it is a shame more lines don't take advantage of teh PR opportunity CC offers.

[Oceangoer2]

Wouldn't CC Hosts be the vehicle to X management?

[Host Jazzbeau]

3 hours ago, Couple-Somerset said:

They don't have time to post - the comments are closed down too quickly by the CC Police in fear of losing ad revenue

CC has a procedure by which cruise lines can set up official accounts.  They are then free to post within CC guidelines (which aren't onerous for cruise lines).

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Wouldn't CC Hosts be the vehicle to X management?

CC Hosts have no special access to Celebrity.  We're just cruise lovers and customers like you.

[Oceangoer2]

6 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

CC Hosts have no special access to Celebrity.  We're just cruise lovers and customers like you.

Hosts do have the authority to shut down threads....that in it's own way is a conduit to X by managing the site...IMO.

[NutsAboutGolf]

You'd be surprised how many (shore side) employees read CruiseCritic on their own.

 

We recently posted thread about the MLife OBC where many of us were booking via Capt Club and still receiving the MLife OBC which is a no-no in the T&Cs.  Like magic, it was reported that a memo went out telling reps to end that practice.  Can only pick CC or MLife benefits, not both.

[Caribbean Chris]

People on the ship’s staff also read CC based on my experience four or five years ago when there was a mid-December delay at the Pier in Ft Lauderdale. 
 

Some idiot had made a statement to be “funny” while disembarking about having left a bomb aboard so the port police had to check it out.

 

When boarding abruptly stopped, the luncheon VIPs were directed to the same holding rooms where originally people with disabilities had been placed to gather before an escort led aboard. It became packed. But hey, we had seats in an air conditioned place to wait and weren’t complaining about the delay.  
 

Then a very heavyset man lost his balance in the crush of people and landed with his full weight on my service dog’s tail by my foot. I’ve never heard the dog make such a screech. A very nice security guard led us to less crowded area where I gave the dog water until boarding eventually resumed an hour or so later. Guards showed us a video of bomb-scare-guy being escorted away in handcuffs and apparently barred for life from sailing again. 
 

People had been posting all morning on the X board and the roll call about the assorted rumors. So I added my story about my poor trampled dog. When we boarded, a uniformed officer/staff guy immediately approached me at the stairway and said, “This must be Raylene!” - very concerned that she was OK. He’d seen the saga on Cruise Critic. Fortunately no lasting harm to her tail wag.