Is the Captain's club dead?

[Denny01]

Oops mistake!

Edited November 3, 2021 by Denny01

[Denny01]

On 11/1/2021 at 12:38 PM, Bo1953 said:

Well, the argument for those who do not drink or can find the same food in other venues, cabin upgrades not of value, discounts minuscule and etc..., I wonder the reason some of us continue to sail on X who are E and E+ if no value/reward for sailing X all these years are not there any longer?

 

Will someone chime in to enlighten me on this?

 

bon voyage

I’d suggest it just an excuse to…..complain??? 

 

Den

Edited November 3, 2021 by Denny01

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, swigso said:

Hi Bo

i just sail with celebrity because I just love the experience

 

 

Ditto…when we don’t we will change lines or book alternative holiday experiences.

[grandgeezer]

On 11/1/2021 at 10:38 AM, Bo1953 said:

Well, the argument for those who do not drink or can find the same food in other venues, cabin upgrades not of value, discounts minuscule and etc..., I wonder the reason some of us continue to sail on X who are E and E+ if no value/reward for sailing X all these years are not there any longer?

 

Will someone chime in to enlighten me on this?

 

bon voyage

Not everybody still sails with Celebrity and not just because of the Always Included. We severely cut back our cruises because, due to cutbacks and changes, they no longer give us value for the money paid, in our humble opinion.

[chemmo]

18 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

Not everybody still sails with Celebrity and not just because of the Always Included. We severely cut back our cruises because, due to cutbacks and changes, they no longer give us value for the money paid, in our humble opinion.

Over the years we have (and continue to) value your comments. Life changes for all of us and priorities change with it. 
 

Value for money to us in our early cruising days meant a room that could accommodate us and a young child and the more ports visited and excursions enjoyed the better! Any bonuses like loyalty level drinks were gratefully received! 
 

We now cruise to enjoy the ship and spend far more time in our room and on our balcony. Our evening entertainment is focused around a couple of pre dinner drinks a leisurely meal and a couple of post dinner drinks before enjoying star gazing on the balcony. We are happy now to pay additional money for a nicer room, enhanced dining and a better drinks selection than we would have done some years ago. To us Celebrity at present still enables us to enjoy travel without the hard work of touring…

 

As you wisely say what you book has to be about what you see as being ‘value for money’. We have all worked long and hard to enjoy our retirement time. Sincere best wishes that you continue to enjoy your holiday experiences on land or sea…

[deliver42]

I book Celebrity, and other lines for variety. I still think Celebrity gives good value for the experience on celebrity. My humble opinion.

[the penguins]

5 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

In the interest of accuracy, Zenith loyalty level members receive the premium beverage package.

Sorry. They used to get a free premium drinks package. Now they pay for a classic package as part of AI but still get the premium which reduces the benefit to just $10 a day.

[Northern Aurora]

27 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Sorry. They used to get a free premium drinks package. Now they pay for a classic package as part of AI but still get the premium which reduces the benefit to just $10 a day.

 

 

My husband and I are Zenith members of the loyalty program.  The last direct communication sent to Zeniths from Andrea Shey clearly states that the complimentary Premium beverage package remains unchanged.  And the Celebrity website also indicates that the complementary premium beverage package is a Zenith benefit.  As I read the website and the email I received form Andrea if I book a "Simply Sail" fare I also still receive the premium beverage package.

[goofysmom99]

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

Sorry. They used to get a free premium drinks package. Now they pay for a classic package as part of AI but still get the premium which reduces the benefit to just $10 a day.

Geoff, I think I get your point.  If I book any cabin under AI, other than a suite, I'm already paying for a CBP so the upgrade to PBP makes it worth $12 (upgrade value w/gratuity).  I accept that.  Someday I hope to be able to book a simply sail fare so I'll get greater benefit.  At the moment, solo pax can't so no matter what category, at a minimum, I'm paying for two CBP, two surf wifi, and two gratuities.  It is what it is if I want to continue sailing on X.  While I do have other cruise lines now on my horizon, I still have several cruises booked on X; in 2022, one of them will have the value of the free cruise benefit applied to it.  After that, I'll probably object to the inequity a bit more.

[jagoffee]

9 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

In the interest of accuracy, Zenith loyalty level members receive the premium beverage package.

Based on the numerous falsehood that he/she repeats over and over, I am not sure accuracy is a priority.

[Oville]

15 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

Based on the numerous falsehood that he/she repeats over and over, I am not sure accuracy is a priority.

👍and thanks.

[Cruising89143]

On 11/1/2021 at 3:26 PM, the penguins said:

So we are on the same side - just tell Celebrity that

Nah, you tell X. I’m happy with the current setup. I have no complaints. 

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Based on the numerous falsehood that he/she repeats over and over, I am not sure accuracy is a priority.

I apologised for the error in my first post and corrected it. A Zenith member has already agreed  with that cirrection- see post 110 above.

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

Nah, you tell X. I’m happy with the current setup. I have no complaints. 

In your post 35 you said you agreed we should have a choice which is what I suggested to told X. Are you now saying that you don't agree we should have a choice and that AI should be compulsory ? 

[the penguins]

8 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

 

 

My husband and I are Zenith members of the loyalty program.  The last direct communication sent to Zeniths from Andrea Shey clearly states that the complimentary Premium beverage package remains unchanged.  And the Celebrity website also indicates that the complementary premium beverage package is a Zenith benefit.  As I read the website and the email I received form Andrea if I book a "Simply Sail" fare I also still receive the premium beverage package.

That's correct if you book a Simply Sail Fare but that's only available in a  guarantee cabin and only on a limited number of itineraries. 

[Cruising89143]

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

In your post 35 you said you agreed we should have a choice which is what I suggested to told X. Are you now saying that you don't agree we should have a choice and that AI should be compulsory ? 

LOL. What I posted is that I’m happy with what X is currently offering. That means as a customer what “they’re currently offering me as a customer makes me happy”. If you’re not then tell them but why do I need to tell X anything on your behalf? 

[terrydtx]

17 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

LOL. What I posted is that I’m happy with what X is currently offering. That means as a customer what “they’re currently offering me as a customer makes me happy”. If you’re not then tell them but why do I need to tell X anything on your behalf? 

I agree, Celebrity is offering us what we want as a customer.  Loyalty accounts and status means nothing when we choose how with whom we travel with. I have a lot of miles and a high status with American Airlines but we go out of our way now and are willing to pay more to avoid flying AA as in our opinion they now have an inferior product. We are 3 star with HAL but after our cruise with them next year we are finished with them, even though we will be 4 star after the cruise.

 

We now choose to cruise exclusively with Celebrity and Oceania,  not for points or status but because of the superior product they offer. A free bag of laundry or scoop of Gelato and a free cocktail hour mean nothing to us. We cruise on Celebrity in the Retreat which provides us all we want in a cruise. We have 3 future cruises booked in the Retreat in 2023 and 2024 because we love the Celebrity Retreat experience.

Edited November 4, 2021 by terrydtx

[Cruising89143]

26 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I agree, Celebrity is offering us what we want as a customer.  Loyalty accounts and status means nothing when we choose how with whom we travel with. I have a lot of miles and a high status with American Airlines but we go out of our way now and are willing to pay more to avoid flying AA as in our opinion they now have an inferior product. We are 3 star with HAL but after our cruise with them next year we are finished with them, even though we will be 4 star after the cruise.

 

We now choose to cruise exclusively with Celebrity and Oceania,  not for points or status but because of the superior product they offer. A free bag of laundry or scoop of Gelato and a free cocktail hour mean nothing to us. We cruise on Celebrity in the Retreat which provides us all we want in a cruise. We have 3 future cruises booked in the Retreat in 2023 and 2024 because we love the Celebrity Retreat experience.

Same here. It took a while but status with a business including cruise lines is not on the top of my list when choosing our vacation. 

[cdn_tbird]

52 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

LOL. What I posted is that I’m happy with what X is currently offering. That means as a customer what “they’re currently offering me as a customer makes me happy”. If you’re not then tell them but why do I need to tell X anything on your behalf? 

It honestly seems that they are on a mission to convince those of us that are happy with the current product that we need to complain to X  to artificially inflate the number of customers that are unhappy.

[C-Dragons]

2 minutes ago, cdn_tbird said:

It honestly seems that they are on a mission to convince those of us that are happy with the current product that we need to complain to X  to artificially inflate the number of customers that are unhappy.

This is a campaign that the poster has been pushing for months now. They were quite vocal on our Roll Call too. X is moving forward and changing their business model. They don’t like it and are trying to lobby them to change back.

[jgmorgan]

Clearly, Celebrity is not for everyone.  For those who don't like the offerings, maybe they should vote with their feet.  Then they could post on a different forum.  🤞

[Denny01]

20 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

This is a campaign that the poster has been pushing for months now. They were quite vocal on our Roll Call too. X is moving forward and changing their business model. They don’t like it and are trying to lobby them to change back.

Sorry to read that. I’m very surprised this is occurring on a Roll Call. I love Roll Calls because we focus on the cruise, setting up socializing, planning tours and sharing. No complaining or politicking on how they would run a business they have no idea about. 
 

here’s an idea for those who just can’t stop complaining . Go get the others not happy; throw in a few 100 million each; buy a couple of cruise ships; get CC to add you to the forum and then anytime someone complains, change your business model immediately. See how that goes. Oh, and let the customer decide what price they think your product is worth. 
 

den
 

den

 

 

[terrydtx]

33 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

This is a campaign that the poster has been pushing for months now. They were quite vocal on our Roll Call too. X is moving forward and changing their business model. They don’t like it and are trying to lobby them to change back.

Back in August for our Equinox cruise there was a malcontent poster who ranted for weeks about not being able to use his Select plus status to have early priority boarding when Celebrity was doing assigned boarding times as part of their COVID protocols in Port Everglades. He was in a Concierge cabin and was equally upset when the Concierge Embarkation lunch was canceled. He thought that lunch was so valuable that he should get some OBC for its cancelation. He kept urging others to join him in complaints to Celebrity management and attacked posters who dared to disagree with him. I have not seen him posting for a couple of months, so I suspect he has moved on or had his CC account suspended for his rants.

[cdn_tbird]

36 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Back in August for our Equinox cruise there was a malcontent poster who ranted for weeks about not being able to use his Select plus status to have early priority boarding when Celebrity was doing assigned boarding times as part of their COVID protocols in Port Everglades. He was in a Concierge cabin and was equally upset when the Concierge Embarkation lunch was canceled. He thought that lunch was so valuable that he should get some OBC for its cancelation. He kept urging others to join him in complaints to Celebrity management and attacked posters who dared to disagree with him. I have not seen him posting for a couple of months, so I suspect he has moved on or had his CC account suspended for his rants.

People just love to complain and are so wrapped up in their own "self importance", they've honestly deluded themselves into believing they know what's best for everyone. 

 

Just for **** & giggles, I looked up my 7 night Nov. 2022 Caribbean Cruise and used it's pricing to calculate the least amount it would cost for a new cruiser to get to Elite & Zenith levels. Not meant to be accurate but just enough to paint a picture. The following are based on a Suite Guarantee rate (no drinks, wifir or tips. Doesn't include Port Fees or Taxes either) since a Sky Suite is actually the cheapest option to accumulate levels fastest.

 

For Elite it works out to 6 cruises (7 night) for a total of between $26,340 - $45,516 USD per couple depending on whether you booked during a sale or not.

 

For Zenith it's 54 cruises (7 night) totaling between $237,060 - $409,644 USD.

 

I'm sorry, but I'm not giving any company that amount of cash because I like the trinkets they throw my way. Unless you intend to get yourself so drunk you pass out, the value of the HH drinks is barely 1% of the minimum you spent to get to Elite. If you are the type that wants to get that drunk, there are other lines that seem to cater to the "booze cruise" crowd and you may be more at home there.

Edited November 4, 2021 by cdn_tbird

[terrydtx]

8 minutes ago, cdn_tbird said:

For Elite it works out to 6 cruises (7 night) for a total of between $26,340 - $45,516 USD per couple depending on whether you booked during a sale or not.

We made Elite with just 3 Sky Suite sailings of 10-12 days in length, not sure how much we spent but I would guess a little less than the $26,000 above.