Ask the Cruise Line CEOs: Call for Questions

[Supershot]

To all CEOs

 

When are you going to make cruises completely no-smoking ?

This will not only make it much more pleasant and healthy but, as was shown when bars and pubs the world over became smoke free and custom increased despite bar owners thinking they would lose business, it would benefit your company's bottom line. 

 

[Annmad]

Can Celebrity please bring back the Grand Journey for 2025, Dubai to Sydney through the Suez canal.

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, Supershot said:

To all CEOs

 

When are you going to make cruises completely no-smoking ?

This will not only make it much more pleasant and healthy but, as was shown when bars and pubs the world over became smoke free and custom increased despite bar owners thinking they would lose business, it would benefit your company's bottom line. 

 

That's a good thought, but unfortunately the comparison you made is an apples to oranges one. You can step outside of a bar to get a smoke, but stepping outside a ship means going overboard. Note I do not smoke, I just think this is unfortunately impractical.

 

But at least they could all make casinos smoke free. The smoke from casinos on many ships also finds its way outside the casino. 

[George C]

I like to know why full suite gets free internet on oasis class but not on older ships , also at one time there was suite lunch in specialty on voyager and freedom class and that disappeared.

[Got Sea Legs]

I've been sailing with Princess Cruises for many years, and I have one huge gripe:  Why do the new ships not have an outside promenade?!  What a travesty! There have been a LOT of little changes that have taken the shine off of our (my family) cruise experience. 1. Why isn't there a Welcome Aboard picture any more?  That is the only picture we always purchased. 2. Cabins: They are getting smaller along with balcony space.  Is this a trade-off - revenue for the company and less comfort for passengers?  Even the closet in which the safe is found is considerably smaller. 3. Dining:  Where are the vegetables which were included with every entre?  Why isn't the dress code enforced in the dining room for dinner? Where is the Chocolate Journey? It would appear presentation is being "dumbed down". Soups were always served in interesting vessels and now, just served in a bowl...kind of like Denny's. 4. Loyalty benefits: Being elite status just isn't what it used to be. No real incentive to continue being loyal. Just $$$ to death with services that were once included. 5. Medallion: It is a terrific idea but more often than not, it fails while on board. And, entering everything on a phone instead of being able to provide necessary information on a computer under my account is a nuisance!.

Like I said, just a lot of little things...which add up to be big things!  Please bring back the promenade deck where we can watch sail-aways, gaze at the ocean, watch for whales, dolphins, seals, flying fish and other sea animals, and take romantic strolls around the ship. After all, this is supposed to be the Love Boat! Love the comfy beds and service. You need to know that not all is lost. :)

[CCAubs]

On 2/19/2023 at 1:00 PM, JDincalif said:

 

Will Cruise Critic provide a summary of CEO responses to these questions following the event?

Yes, we will! Unfortunately we won't be able to ask every question, but we will be able to ask a handful of questions, and will be sure to share a summary here!

[ontheweb]

11 minutes ago, CCAubs said:

Yes, we will! Unfortunately we won't be able to ask every question, but we will be able to ask a handful of questions, and will be sure to share a summary here!

Will you share the questions you intend to ask in advance so we will no if they are ducking any questions?

[Lois R]

And would you tell us when is this question/answer session going to take place?

[fruitmachine]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

And would you tell us when is this question/answer session going to take place?

It would appear to be this session: https://www.seatradecruiseglobal.com/en/conference/conference-programme.html#/seminars/the-state-of-the-global-cruise-industry

[CCAubs]

On 3/4/2023 at 9:06 AM, Lois R said:

And would you tell us when is this question/answer session going to take place?

Happy to! The panel will take place the morning of Tuesday, March 28. Here are details: https://www.seatradecruiseglobal.com/en/conference/conference-programme.html#/seminars/the-state-of-the-global-cruise-industry

[ontheweb]

37 minutes ago, CCAubs said:

Happy to! The panel will take place the morning of Tuesday, March 28. Here are details: https://www.seatradecruiseglobal.com/en/conference/conference-programme.html#/seminars/the-state-of-the-global-cruise-industry

Will there be a live zoom feed of the panel? Will there be a link later to the panel discussion?

 

[Supershot]

On 2/26/2023 at 4:11 AM, ontheweb said:

That's a good thought, but unfortunately the comparison you made is an apples to oranges one. You can step outside of a bar to get a smoke, but stepping outside a ship means going overboard. Note I do not smoke, I just think this is unfortunately impractical.

 

But at least they could all make casinos smoke free. The smoke from casinos on many ships also finds its way outside the casino. 

Let's compare a ship to a 'plane then. You can't step outside of that either although some cruises go days without a port call and flights are rarely longer than 12 hours.

Smoke doesn't just waft in from the casino but also from the outside smoking areas. I had to insist on a cabin change on one cruise because of smoke coming up from a lower deck. 

[Honolulu Blue]

It's possible @CCAubs has already left for the seminar, but I do have one question that was inspired by Carnival Corp's financial report:

 

(for any or all of the CEOs)  - Why are you holding so much cash?

[CCAubs]

Hello from Seatrade 2023 in Ft. Lauderdale!

 

The State of the Industry was held yesterday. Due to time constraints, we were limited to just one question per CEO, but it was amazing to have the opportunity to include the cruisers' voice in the conversation for the first time ever.

 

Here's a link to our recap of the event and CEO answers: https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/7330/ Including a photo, too 🙂

 

We received A TON of questions across all of the cruise line forums (and lots of fantastic feedback) for the lines, and are going to be following up by sending all of it their way as well. We'll also use it on the Cruise Critic side for future story ideas, too. 

 

A huge thank you to all of you for sharing your thoughts, questions and experiences -- this community is incredible.

[Honolulu Blue]

@CCAubs Thank you for doing this!  And thank you for the write up.  Though my questions weren't directly addressed (congrats to those that made the cut), there were some interesting responses with nuggets of information.  I thought Mr. Del Rio's answer about older ships was most interesting; I assume his plans and philosophy are shared by Mr. Sommer.

[9tee2Sea]

For Mr Frank Del Rio ( or the current CEO of NCL),  It seems that the early bookings get penalized for their excitement.  There are many promotions that give extra Lattitudes points ( sometimes up to 3 times points) when booking during a certain period of time.  When, as a Lattitude member ( Platinum, almost Saphire) I call to get the extra points, I am told I have to cancel my booking ( that I made 1 year in advance), pay the higher price to receive the new Lattitudes offer.  I feel that Loyal cruisers should be able to make 1 change, without fees, to receive the extra latitude points that you offer to last minute cruisers.  I know it's an incentive to book later, to get higher points, and you get a higher fare.  But us loyal cruisers, who plan ahead, get penalized.  Maybe award triple points if someone books 1 year in advance.  After all, points are not awarded until after the cruise, so if they cancel and don't cruise, they don't get the extra points.  I just feel we, as loyal customers, and advanced planners are getting the short end of the rewards program.