Celebrity missing a market

[Jimsgirl]

Celebrity is doing the same old itineraries in 2007 as those in 2004,2005,and 2006. When are they going to offer repeat passengers the chance to sail with Celebrity to other parts of the world and for longer cruises than the old 7,10,12 days?

 

I tried today to book a cruise for April 2007, that would take in New Zealand, Australia, Pacific islands back to USA.

 

Nothing at all with Celebrity so I went to Princess only to find that the cruise although 13 months away was FULLY BOOKED with a WAITING LIST of over 400!

 

It would seem that Celebrity is being short sighted and missing a market that is wide open for the taking. I am sure that the 400 on the wait list and those who are still "thinking about 2007" would be willing to go with Celebrity (I would in fact prefer to do that since I have Elite "perks)

[superjerryw]

400 people are not enough to make a sailing profitable when an average ship takes over 2,000 passengers. By doing the same itineraries over and over they have their act down pat and have the logistics worked out for everything. To set up a new itinerary such as the one that you mention would take a great deal of planning and coordination. If they can only manage to find enough passengers to do one such sailing each year it hardly seems worth the effort and the cost involved to do so. In addition, it would have to be a pretty long cruise to go from Australia and New Zealand back to the U.S. so the price would be pretty high which would severely limit the number of people that could actually afford to do it.

[BrendaJ]

I have also been thinking that Celebrity needs to branch out to the South Pacific. Princess has some decent itineraries, although I find most of the South Pacific voyages I am interested in are too long or too short.

 

I'm not sure how popular the Xpeditions have been so far; however, I would be willing to bet that if Celebrity deployed an Xpedition-size ship to French Polynesia and that general area, they'd be overwhelmed with bookings. I know I'd try to be first in line.

 

I am desperate to see the South Pacific, and I am afraid my only options are a 7-10 day trip on Princess (which I think is too short for the trouble of flying that distance), or a longer trip on Radisson, which have great itineraries but are very expensive.

 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that by the time my 20th anniversary rolls around, Celebrity will be offering something in that area of the world; otherwise, I'll probably have to defect to Princess for at least one cruise.

 

Brenda

[emeyers]

Jimsgirl:

 

I agree with you. The April 2007 29 day Sydney to Los Angeles cruise has been sold out for quite a while. I have instructed my T.A. to immediately book a mini-suite when the April 2008 bookings open as we will be celebrating our 50 anniversary during the cruise. The 7 day pre cruise tour of Australia also looks very good.

The Summit was due to do the China/Far East itinerary later this year, but at the last minute Celebrity decided against it. We had made plans to be on the October cruise but finally booked the 16 day plus 9 day pre cruise tour on the Sapphire Princess.

 

Ellis

[ocngypz]

The difference between Princess and Celebrity, is that Princess has huge international markets through P&O from which to pull passengers. On the aformentioned 4/07 29 transpacific from Sydney to California, a huge block of rooms was set aside for sale only through the Australia office.

 

Also Celebrity does not have the infrastructure set up in the South Pacific/Asia rim as does Princess.

 

Other than segments of world cruises, Princess is the only cruiseline which comes to mind who does transpacific sailings (twice a year).

 

On another note, it appears that RCL is going to bring back their series of "Grand Voyages". They are non-repetitive sailings encompassing the globe. Not regular line runs.

[Jimsgirl]

Jimsgirl:

 

I agree with you. The April 2007 29 day Sydney to Los Angeles cruise has been sold out for quite a while. I have instructed my T.A. to immediately book a mini-suite when the April 2008 bookings open as we will be celebrating our 50 anniversary during the cruise. The 7 day pre cruise tour of Australia also looks very good.

The Summit was due to do the China/Far East itinerary later this year, but at the last minute Celebrity decided against it. We had made plans to be on the October cruise but finally booked the 16 day plus 9 day pre cruise tour on the Sapphire Princess.

 

Ellis

 

This is the second time Celebrity have "chickened" out of expending their cruise routes, they did it in 2004-2005

 

For instance a HAL cruise to the Sth Pacific in January was in fact oversold, just like Princess. The markets are out there , but Celebrity "big whigs" cannot be bothered to go after new markets, they prefer to stick to the "standard operational procedure"

[montgomeryfamily]

If the problem is one of infrastructure, then the RCL Grand Voyages should be able to pave the way for new Celebrity intineraries. Since RCL is going to have the Grand Voyages, there would then exist within RCI (through RCL) the contacts and some infrastructure to support Celebrity cruises which go to some of these same ports. After all, they are sister companies. Is it a problem of one company not talking/share information with another sister company? As an RCI stockholder, I want the two cruise companies to be able to share information/contacts and maximize efficiencies. It is a waste not to use the information and contacts for more than one Grand Voyage sailing when Celebrity could use it in developing new intineraries.

[sbku]

I am part of a group of cruisers that met on various Celebrity cruises and we are now booked on an Australian cruise for 2/07 on Princess. I am sure that if Celebrity offered this cruise,we most likely would have booked it. Also, I know that part of this same group traveled to Asia on Oceania last month. Again, Celebrity offers nothing.

 

As a person who has traveled on cruises with Celebrity, I am losing interest with where they travel. At some point, they are going to have to make a change or they will lose their base of frequent cruises.

[JORAY]

We agree with sbku -- Sue & John

 

We really like the Celebrity "package" but after 10 Celebrity cruises (will have 129 nights w/ Celebrity), we wanted some different ports of call.

 

So Princess -- Australia/ New Zealand here we come!

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

While I agree that it is a good idea for Celebrity to try this, I can't see how they can right now. They do not have enough ships to handle the demand as is.

 

I can only see this happening, and then it is a MAYBE.... when the Solstice Class ships come online. This will give Celebrity a lot more flexibility.

[ocngypz]

Celebrity did not "chicken out" of Asia. The numbers didn't work.

[cruisePRN]

The poster stated there is a wait list of 400 not a passenger capacity of 400. Princess' smallest ship is the Royal and is 1200 passengers and all outside rooms. I sailed on her three years ago to the Amazon. Any place celebrity's Expedition chooses to sail I'd book in a heart beat. We did her last Sept. 23 2005 to the Galapagos and it was FABULOUS. She holds only 92 passengers and 60 crew, what a royal treatment there. I am looking for more interesting itinaries myself and think Antartica would be exciting. Anyone been on Oceania and can tell me what they think?

[ocngypz]

The poster stated there is a wait list of 400 not a passenger capacity of 400. Princess' smallest ship is the Royal and is 1200 passengers and all outside rooms. I sailed on her three years ago to the Amazon. Any place celebrity's Expedition chooses to sail I'd book in a heart beat. We did her last Sept. 23 2005 to the Galapagos and it was FABULOUS. She holds only 92 passengers and 60 crew, what a royal treatment there. I am looking for more interesting itinaries myself and think Antartica would be exciting. Anyone been on Oceania and can tell me what they think?

 

The Royal Princess is now with P&O.

 

It is only the twice yearly Princess transpac which sells out. Not the sailings DownUnder. And the Spring 2007 had some VERY cheap rates. Not surprising since it is really off season.

 

The two US major market lines who sail worldwide itineraries coincidentally.. have been doing so for over 100 years! HAL and Princess (through the P&O division).

[sueclark]

I agree that Celebrity is missing a great possible market. Holland America seems to be the premium line that is coming out with the most creative new world-wide itineraries.

 

Perhaps when Celebrity starts their new Huge :( new ships they'll take the Century class and start to do some new routes.

 

We, too, are looking at other cruise lines for 2007 for the different itineraries. Although we won't be with our friends on the 2/07 Princess Australian cruise (I just can't face the two long flights to Australia and back!)

[TorontoTL]

Princess' smallest ships are actually the Pacific and Tahitian Princess and they each carry 670 passengers each. I would think that once Celebrity has new ships, they will start to add new itineraries.

[newmexicoNita]

Celebrity is doing the same old itineraries in 2007 as those in 2004,2005,and 2006. When are they going to offer repeat passengers the chance to sail with Celebrity to other parts of the world and for longer cruises than the old 7,10,12 days?

 

I tried today to book a cruise for April 2007, that would take in New Zealand, Australia, Pacific islands back to USA.

 

Nothing at all with Celebrity so I went to Princess only to find that the cruise although 13 months away was FULLY BOOKED with a WAITING LIST of over 400!

 

It would seem that Celebrity is being short sighted and missing a market that is wide open for the taking. I am sure that the 400 on the wait list and those who are still "thinking about 2007" would be willing to go with Celebrity (I would in fact prefer to do that since I have Elite "perks)

you bring up a good point but Celebrity doesn't really have enough ships to change too much right now. As long as they are going out full they will continue to stay where they are. It is interesting you mention this; long cruises to the Pacific Rim is what you want and just the other day, many were complaining that the new itineraries for the Caribbean are too long. Seems like everyone has his or her own ideas. It will be interesting to see what transpires in the next 2 years. NMNita

[Jimsgirl]

The New Zealand /Sydney/Pacific to LA is being done by Saphire Princess which has over 2000 passengers and that is the one that is fully sold out with a large waiting list for April 2007. and people asking re 2008,so there is quite a reasonable number of people out there looking to book.

 

Celebrity could use Century for this run, if they want a smaller ship, but obviously Princess has no problem filling a ship that is larger than anything Celebrity has at this time.

 

HAL and Crystal have no problem filling up for the Asia cruises, HAL has a cruise Sydney to HongKong in 2007 and Crystal is also doing Asia in 2007

 

I still think it comes down to lack of effort on the part of CEO's, and the "suits" in Sales at Celebrity

[Fredr]

hello,

 

This is a very interesting and informative thread. I highly recommend to all who are reading this, that you go on an Australian - New Zealand - South Pacific cruise, and I hope that Celebrity will look at providing itineraries in this very scenic, historical, and culturally significant part of the world.

 

Here is an idea....some 14 day cruises round trip from Tahiti (Papeete). There is a major airport , plenty of hotels/restaurants, and English is widely spoken. The ports of call could include Sydney, Auckland, American Samoa, and Suva (Fiji) as well as Moorea and Bora Bora. Many passengers from the east coast could change planes in Honolulu or in Los Angeles OR Celebrity could do some charter air.

 

I suggest using Tahiti and not Sydney because the airplane flight is quite a bit shorter than all the way to Australia. Just an idea...

 

I speak from experience because in 1993 my wife and sailed these waters on the old Island Princess. In fact it was the next to last sailing of that wonderful ship before it was sold never to be used as a cruise ship again.

 

Fred

[ocngypz]

hello,

 

This is a very interesting and informative thread. I highly recommend to all who are reading this, that you go on an Australian - New Zealand - South Pacific cruise, and I hope that Celebrity will look at providing itineraries in this very scenic, historical, and culturally significant part of the world.

 

Here is an idea....some 14 day cruises round trip from Tahiti (Papeete). There is a major airport , plenty of hotels/restaurants, and English is widely spoken. The ports of call could include Sydney, Auckland, American Samoa, and Suva (Fiji) as well as Moorea and Bora Bora. Many passengers from the east coast could change planes in Honolulu or in Los Angeles OR Celebrity could do some charter air.

 

I suggest using Tahiti and not Sydney because the airplane flight is quite a bit shorter than all the way to Australia. Just an idea...

 

I speak from experience because in 1993 my wife and sailed these waters on the old Island Princess. In fact it was the next to last sailing of that wonderful ship before it was sold never to be used as a cruise ship again.

 

Fred

 

Unfortunately, there is not sufficient airlift into Tahiti. Air Tahiti Nui, which is the primary carrier, has very odd schedules. Charter air is now prohibitively expensive. As an example, several cruiselines looked into charter air from New England to FL for Feb school vacation. However, after working the numbers, they would have had to charge $900 rt per seat. And that wasn't going fly (excuse the pun).

 

Tahiti is a VERY expensive port. I've done two rt sailings from Papeete. Even back in the old days before 747 extended range flights from LAX-SYD, layovers in Papeete were a killer on the wallet and we didn't pay for transfers or hotels.

 

BTW, you'll be glad to know the old Island Princess is still sailing! Her new name is MV Discovery and she sails for Discovery World Cruises. She looks wonderful! Her schedules are long-haul, destination oriented.. many soft adventure sailings.. including Antarctica. She' s been sailing for a couple of years now for Discovery.

[mountainmare]

We just jumped ship from HAL because we had been looking and dreaming of a Med for Beginners cruise and Celebrity seemed have the nice blend of a quality product with a comfortable itierary.

It seems that looking at Celebrity and HAL there would seem to be a cruise experience to suit those of us who want a premium traditional vacation--and then you can add Princess for even more choice.

For next winter and keeping open minded and looking at both HAL for Mexico 10 days or Celebrity for Carribean 10 days. There seem to be plenty of choices out there, Celebrities "same old same old" just got them a new customer.

[Fredr]

hello,

 

OC - thanks for the update on the Island Princess. And for correcting me about the use of Papeete as a Celebrity cruise line port. If not Tahiti, then maybe Honolulu.

 

Fred