Is anyone else reluctant to commit far ahead to cruises now?

[LMaxwell]

34 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Unfortunately, we are cruiseaholics and need to continually feed our addiction. 😂 

 

As such we have quite a few future cruises (21) booked with various cruise lines (see signature area), even as far out as Mar 2025. But they are all booked with refundable deposits, so not too worried. But then we also have cruised over 170 days between Celebrity, Princess and NCL since cruising started back up and have always had a great time on all of the ships we've be on, especially on the ones with the longer more unique itineraries (see some of my recent Live From threads in my signature area).

 

TBH we really haven't noticed that many changes and/or downgrades on any of our cruises so far. But we really haven't been looking. We are Elite+ on Celebrity and as long as we continue to each get 2 free bags of laundry per leg we're good. We're almost Elite on Princess and soon we'll have unlimited laundry with them as well. Our most recent surprise was the double NCL Latitudes points we got on our 38-day Africa cruise last month which moved us up to Platinum which, you guessed it, gets us each 1 free bag of laundry per leg plus they now also give military 10% off on cruise fares!

 

But, again, for us it's all about the itinerary which are usually 3-5 weeks in length.

 I have signatures disabled in order to see the forum more cleanly, but 21 advanced is quite impressive. I hope to achieve that level of freedom one day! 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

3 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Such a lot of drama for someone who may be trying Celebrity for the first time.

 

Celebrity provides gluten free food in the buffet. Depending on the ship, it is in a well marked section of the buffet or the gluten free items are labeled and put in with the similar food items (desserts with desserts, main entrees with other mains).

 

Do not believe all the sky are falling posts or rumor spreader posts from some posters who are known for those type of posts.

 

You will have  a selection of GF food in the buffet.

 

At breakfast and lunch, yes (this would be my second - I sailed on the Edge in February and loved it). But with the limited dinner selections I'm doubting there will be much available - especially if it's because of food waste.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Whatever.  I can't get too fussed about the room service charge, since I rarely order it.  Tote bags?  I have tons of them.  Lobster?  No biggie, it's not cold-water lobster.  I just booked a tremendous bargain on a partial Panama Canal transit over Christmas 2024.  With a refundable deposit.  If things get as horrible as some of the doomsayers predict, I can always cancel.  I still love cruising and the four cruises I did on Summit last year were fantastic.

[Lastdance]

I have 6 booked; five were booked when they were first released.  The airfare prices are an issue for me, along with all the changes to Celebrity Air.  At the moment, I am waiting to hear what they are doing with my flights to FLL, as I have my own flights back from Europe.  This may well be my last vacation to Europe, my favorite travel destination, but no one knows what the future may bring.  Presently, I am excited and cannot wait to enjoy all my travel plans!  Then, I will monitor and adjust based on what happens and how it personally affects my trip. 

[MarkWiltonM]

We are booking into 2025 on Celebrity and Oceania, but only with refundable deposits. In the case of Celebrity we book early to get a Sunset Veranda on Edge-class ships because we don't like the slide-down window in the Infinite Veranda staterooms. We also find that the fares are much better when we book as soon as the new itineraries are released. I'll check in in to reprice in six months to a year and even with the extra cost of the refundable deposit our original fare is usually less significantly expensive than the current fare.    

[Ken the cruiser]

24 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

 I have signatures disabled in order to see the forum more cleanly, but 21 advanced is quite impressive. I hope to achieve that level of freedom one day! 

I have to say we just got finished going on a cruise last month that had to be one of the best itineraries we have ever had the pleasure of booking. Prior to this 38-day B2B on the NCL Jade, our favorite itineraries included circumnavigating Australia on the HAL Maasdam, going to Antarctica on the HAL Zaandam, and a 10-day Galapagos cruise on the Celebrity Xpedition.

 

But this itinerary on the Jade was just totally awesome from beginning to end with the average passenger age around 62 with only a small handful of kids on each leg. I know, NCL, who knew! If you're curious and have a few minutes to spare, check out my Live From thread. The pictures going through the Suez Canal start on page 6.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[paulh84]

Nah. No concerns. The itemized lists of 'death by 1000 cuts' hysteria has very little, if any, material impact to me. I'm not going to derail my plans over $50 or 0.5% to 1% of the total cost of a trip. 

[garyl62]

We have 5 trips booked now and are about 4 years away from retirement when we plan to sail for longer periods of time.  I was envisioning those sailings would be on Celebrity. Traditionally we've sailed in suites so the price increases by Celebrity have been the biggest factor to us thus far, but because of that, 4 of our future sailings are not in a suite.  While I'm not ready to switch cruise lines yet, I will wait to evaluate what else is changed and how these current changes affect us on our future non-suite sailings. 

 

At some point, even if I'm not affected much, how I feel about the company comes into my decision about if I want to continue buying from that company.  If I think a company is making decisions that imply they don't care about their customer's, I'll look for a company that I feel appreciates it's customers.

[Homosassa]

36 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

At breakfast and lunch, yes (this would be my second - I sailed on the Edge in February and loved it). But with the limited dinner selections I'm doubting there will be much available - especially if it's because of food waste.

You are worrying about something that is basically a rumor.

 

Your experience in February (in the slow season) gives you a good idea of what you will find in a July Bermuda cruise which is the Bermuda cruise season.  

 

While the Edge is carries about seven hundred passenger more than Summit, the buffet offering should be equal (and maybe more as the July sailing is a peak sailing season vs slow season).

[NCteacherlovescruising]

2 hours ago, cw2go said:

 

 

 

I currently have 9 cruises booked with Celebrity, out till Feb 2025 

 

 

Patty 

 

I want to be you!!! lol

 

1 hour ago, FlyingAnchor said:

I have so many train trips I'd love to do based off of this show! Do you set the guides/hotels/food up all by yourself or are there TAs that specialize in this type of vacation? 

 

It's a show?

 

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

We aren’t flying business class any more $5-8,000 pp for 1 way to Rome.  We are moving to premium economy, and that’s $2-4 pp

 

What is premium economy?  We're looking at that when we fly to Europe, but don't fly much so I don't know what that is exactly.

 

2 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

With so many changes over the past few months at all the mainstream, US operations based cruise lines, is anyone else feeling reluctant to commit deposits more than 6 months or a year out?  There are too many changes and downgrades occurring too quickly to feel confident that what I book today is what I will receive at time of sailing.  Usually we have anywhere from 4-6 cruises lined up with deposits stretching out 18+ months.  Currently I only have 1 deposit far ahead for a short cruise, and not excited to make others. Looking at some of the big ticket ones that would run 10K+ for unique destinations. 

I booked one for June, 2024 last month while on the Reflection so our deposit was only $200.  We booked our first suite, so I don't see us eating dinner at the buffet and we never order room service.  

[davekathy]

... nope. 

[MISTER 67]

We never book more than 2 in the future, I think one time we booked 3. We are getting to the age of not buying green bananas anymore.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

9 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

You are worrying about something that is basically a rumor.

 

Your experience in February (in the slow season) gives you a good idea of what you will find in a July Bermuda cruise which is the Bermuda cruise season.  

 

While the Edge is carries about seven hundred passenger more than Summit, the buffet offering should be equal (and maybe more as the July sailing is a peak sailing season vs slow season).

 

Sorry, but Presidents' Week is not low season.

 

And it is not a rumor that the OVC is drastically reduced in the evenings. People on board now have confirmed it.

[MamaFej]

2 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

 

I have discovered Mighty Trains and my trips now include train travel with customized tour guides, unique hotels and local food. These trips are so much more rewarding in terms of geography, meeting people, history, food etc.

 

That show is addictive! There are so many journeys I want to do, based on what I've seen on it. We did The Glacier Express last May. It was phenomenal! Hubby workeed very hard to convince me to do Excellence Class. I didn't see the value; the scenery would be the same, no matter which car we were in. He was right, I was wrong. It was worth the difference in price. Just amazing! 

 

Enjoy your travels!

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

With so many changes over the past few months at all the mainstream, US operations based cruise lines, is anyone else feeling reluctant to commit deposits more than 6 months or a year out?  There are too many changes and downgrades occurring too quickly to feel confident that what I book today is what I will receive at time of sailing.  Usually we have anywhere from 4-6 cruises lined up with deposits stretching out 18+ months.  Currently I only have 1 deposit far ahead for a short cruise, and not excited to make others. Looking at some of the big ticket ones that would run 10K+ for unique destinations. 

I'm still willing to book if I see something I like, but I'm not actively looking for anything right now.

 

I have a couple of charter cruises coming up in the next two months that are more or less paid for.  If I like what they're offering when they book for the next edition. like a fool I'll be waiting in their future cruise booth with my credit card in hand.

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'm still willing to book if I see something I like, but I'm not actively looking for anything right now.

 

I have a couple of charter cruises coming up in the next two months that are more or less paid for.  If I like what they're offering when they book for the next edition. like a fool I'll be waiting in their future cruise booth with my credit card in hand.

 

I would still say I am willing to book, but not willing to put down money on anything more than 6 months in advance, or that requires time consuming plans for travel and/or expensive travel to and from the ship. I want to be reasonably assured of what I will actually receive when onboard and booking too far in advance invites too much opportunity for changes I may not agree with.  So more near date, local cruises.  

[FlyingAnchor]

1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

It's a show?

It is! Mighty Trains and Mighty Cruise Ships both fuel my wanderlust! 🤣

[MamaFej]

Mighty Trains, Mighty Ships, and Mighty Cruise Ships are Canadian-produced shows. In the US, they can be found on demand on Paramount Plus (under Smithsonian Channel). I think some episodes might also be available on YouTube.

 

A word of caution, however: watching these shows can lead to booking expensive travel. 

[LMaxwell]

I have been following an amazing channel on YT of a traveler who goes by Train coach, ferry, canal longboats, bus, you name it!  Downielive.  Train travel looks interesting.  I would like to do that or add it on to a destination cruise

[LMaxwell]

I noticed this was moved to a general forum, not the Celebrity forum it started in. That's fine, this is probably a better place for it anyways.  

 

Some of those recent changes include, but not limited to (not an exhaustive list):

• Significant increases in drink package prices; sometimes as much as 400% for non-alcohol package
• Degradation/scale back/reduction of evening buffets to be little more than pool snacks and not a true dining alternative on some lines
• MDR limitations; scaled back menus, reduction in classic offerings. Some cruiselines have abandoned lobster night, others charge for lobster now. Some charge for "traditional" appetizers that were always included. Some ships limiting appetizers or entrees.
• Specialty dining: More ships have upcharges within specialty dining menus, including even for appetizers. Reports of app/dessert limitations on some ships. Other ships, portions halved for same price, effectively a 200% price increase (looking at you Izumi on Royal Caribbean)
• Room service: Now incurs a charge on most lines except for a basic continental breakfast of fruit, breads, coffee/tea.  
• Daily room attendants: Many moving to once a day while also increasing service charges by 10%-20% range. 
• Destination/Culture/Enrichment sessions wholesale abandoned on some cruises, yet sold as part of the overall experience. 
• Higher/Upper level loyalty members, across several lines, noting reduced services, amenities, or access to loyalty areas being eliminated. 
• Increasing percentage of daily activities onboard ships are for a charge/shopping seminar/sales and not activities available for all to participate without a sales pitch. Not new, but steadily increasing. 
• Some ships noted as charging for kids club access and/or reducing hours of kids club activities; increasing late night fees (after 10pm)

 

There are others that are not covered and things are always evolving. This is a snapshot of recent discussion topics over the past 3 months or so, and make it harder to want to commit money for a far off date. 

[Prometheus1]

Actually i wish they  had schedules further out. I like to plan far ahead and gives me something to look forward to. After reading on many forums, it would appear  from discussions that the opinion is a decline in standards  occuring across all cruiselines, although i can only personally voice a decline in food and service on Royal and Carnival (only lines i have been on sice restart) I am trying Celebrity in 2024 and am considering Oceania in 2025. Cruising less frequently but longer cruises and trying other lines. If after a few years i am not satisfied i will go back to land vacations exclusively. I just like being on a ship, unpacking once and chilling out. If i really like a destination, i will go back and spend time there. There is a vacay for everyone- cruise or land

[Homosassa]

26 minutes ago, MamaFej said:

Mighty Trains, Mighty Ships, and Mighty Cruise Ships are Canadian-produced shows. In the US, they can be found on demand on Paramount Plus (under Smithsonian Channel). I think some episodes might also be available on YouTube.

 

A word of caution, however: watching these shows can lead to booking expensive travel. 

We have the Smithsonian channel as part of our cable line up.  

 

We can also pull up episodes  in the "On Demand" cable section.

 

I frequently ask my husband, "Are we cruising or training tonight?"

[mpdog42]

5 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

With so many changes over the past few months at all the mainstream, US operations based cruise lines, is anyone else feeling reluctant to commit deposits more than 6 months or a year out?  There are too many changes and downgrades occurring too quickly to feel confident that what I book today is what I will receive at time of sailing.  Usually we have anywhere from 4-6 cruises lined up with deposits stretching out 18+ months.  Currently I only have 1 deposit far ahead for a short cruise, and not excited to make others. Looking at some of the big ticket ones that would run 10K+ for unique destinations. 

I am as well …After my next cruise…I will be looking at Europe or AI…

[Z'Loth]

Right now, I have a single cruise that is scheduled to depart one year from about now. The concerns have less to do with the cruise line and the state of travel and more with adult caregiver issues. I already had one trip blown to smithereens in late September booked one year in advance with a highly-desired sunset veranda because my mother had health issues and her doctor told her that any travel was highly inadvisable. It was just the latest of several trips (all others being road trips, train trips, or other trips) that were carefully planned and booked, only to be blown apart at the last minute. 

 

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

22 minutes ago, Z'Loth said:

Right now, I have a single cruise that is scheduled to depart one year from about now. The concerns have less to do with the cruise line and the state of travel and more with adult caregiver issues. I already had one trip blown to smithereens in late September booked one year in advance with a highly-desired sunset veranda because my mother had health issues and her doctor told her that any travel was highly inadvisable. It was just the latest of several trips (all others being road trips, train trips, or other trips) that were carefully planned and booked, only to be blown apart at the last minute. 

I'm sorry to hear about your issues and how they've affected your desired travel.  I hope for better days for you and your mom. 🙏