What goes around....

[deliver42]

The old saying of what goes around, comes around. Maybe Celebrity should think about it. When business was down after covid, they were offering all kinds of low prices to entice people. As cruising became more popular again they started raising prices and still kept the ships full or close to it.  Now they're going off the deep end with pricing and cutbacks. The comes around to bite them maybe closer than they think, as other lines are killing them pricewise and perk wise. I'm talking about their closest competitors, Princess and HAL.

[ECCruise]

Our experience probably highlights exactly what you are saying.

 

About 18 months ago, we booked 4 =X= sailings, 50+ days, for what we considered reasonable pricing.  We have been Elite+ for like a decade, so were pretty loyal =X= customers.

 

Since then, with the insane (no other way to put it) price increases, decreased amenities and obvious cuts (food, anyone?) we've booked:

7 Azamara (90+ days)

3 HAL (40+ days)

1 Princess (27 days)

 

We are just 2 customers (although 2 that travel pretty extensively and often) and if Celebrity feels that their best posture is going for the suite-centric, high dollar, largely short itinerary, largely Caribbean focused, fairly new customer demographic perhaps they know better than we do.  Only time will tell if it is the right move, and if it is, I will be the first to congratulate them. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

12 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

other lines are killing them pricewise and perk wise. I'm talking about their closest competitors, Princess and HAL.

Do you mind providing an example?  These are two cruise lines I have never seriously shopped.  We once looked at a Princess cruise to Alaska in a suite and the only perks that were offered was a 1 time mini bar set up with airline sized bottles of spirits, a corsage on formal night, a separate place in the MDR for suite guests.  This was an older ship (can't remember the name) but we had a temporary booking in the highest suite category they offered.  We ended up cancelling due to a lack of perks...I haven't shopped them since.  This was probably 2014/15.

[alyssamma]

20 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Do you mind providing an example?  These are two cruise lines I have never seriously shopped.  We once looked at a Princess cruise to Alaska in a suite and the only perks that were offered was a 1 time mini bar set up with airline sized bottles of spirits, a corsage on formal night, a separate place in the MDR for suite guests.  This was an older ship (can't remember the name) but we had a temporary booking in the highest suite category they offered.  We ended up cancelling due to a lack of perks...I haven't shopped them since.  This was probably 2014/15.

I don't think Princess is a good example as they have been cutting stuff too. Not a suite, but their Plus package recently changed to include more stuff...but only if you rebooked at the higher price. Then very recently they took away perks and took them from people who had previously booked the plus package when they were included...again, unless you bought the higher package. The former I can kind of see, but the latter is horrible.

 

HAL however seems to have pretty good packages and perks... especially club Orange.

 

At this point I cruise whoever has the best itinerary at the cheapest price point. Having loyalty is stupid since they don't have loyalty to you.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Do you mind providing an example?  These are two cruise lines I have never seriously shopped.  We once looked at a Princess cruise to Alaska in a suite and the only perks that were offered was a 1 time mini bar set up with airline sized bottles of spirits, a corsage on formal night, a separate place in the MDR for suite guests.  This was an older ship (can't remember the name) but we had a temporary booking in the highest suite category they offered.  We ended up cancelling due to a lack of perks...I haven't shopped them since.  This was probably 2014/15.

Here's an example of a Celebrity 7-day Alaska cruise RT Vancouver in April 2024 in a Sunset Sky Suite on the Solstice with a refundable deposit. The per person cost not counting taxes and fees is $5,452. 

 

 

Here's is a similar 7-day Princess cruise in an aft-facing Vista Suite on the Ruby Princess with one of 3 perk packages to choose from, all with a refundable deposit. BTW you also get free unlimited laundry when you book a full suite on PCL ship. But you also don't get a butler, which is fine with us.

 

 

Then here is the per person cost for a HAL aft-facing Neptune suite on the Koningsdam. In this case if you book the cruise over a year out, you can either book it with a Cruise Only Fare or with the Have It All Early Booking Bonus, which in this particular case is $3,499 per person with a refundable deposit.

 

 

Hope this helps to compare costs of suites on similar Celebrity, Princess, and HAL cruises. In our case we have booked the PCL one, to include the cruise before at as well as after it. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[CruisinBanka]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here's an example of a Celebrity 7-day Alaska cruise RT Vancouver in April 2024 in a Sunset Sky Suite with refundable deposits. The per person cost not counting taxes and fees is $5,452. 

 

 

Here's is a similar 7-day Princess cruise in an aft-facing Vista Suite on the Ruby Princess with one of 3 perk packages to choose from, all with a refundable deposit, rather than being stuck with the Celebrity Premium All Included package when you book a suite. BTW you also get free unlimited laundry when you book a full suite on PCL ship. But you also don't get a butler, which is fine with us.

 

 

Then here is the per person cost for a HAL aft-facing Neptune suite on the Koningsdam. In this case if you book the cruise over a year out, you can either book it with a Cruise Only Fare or with the Have It All Early Booking Bonus, which in this particular case is $3,499 per person with a refundable deposit.

 

 

Hope this helps to compare costs on similar Celebrity, Princess, and HAL cruises. In our case we have booked the PCL one, to include the cruise before at as well as after it. 

Wow! What a price difference. Thanks for sharing Ken!

[basenji56]

Thank you for posting specific information on these three cruises.  It is very hard to judge apples/oranges comparisons without screenshots.  $4000 more for Celebrity.  For me, not worth it.  

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

48 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

I don't think Princess is a good example as they have been cutting stuff too. Not a suite, but their Plus package recently changed to include more stuff...but only if you rebooked at the higher price. Then very recently they took away perks and took them from people who had previously booked the plus package when they were included...again, unless you bought the higher package. The former I can kind of see, but the latter is horrible.

 

HAL however seems to have pretty good packages and perks... especially club Orange.

 

At this point I cruise whoever has the best itinerary at the cheapest price point. Having loyalty is stupid since they don't have loyalty to you.

Not sure what you mean by cutting stuff. Since cruising started back up, we have been on an 18-day Panama Canal cruise on the Caribbean Princess is an aft-facing VS, a 21-day Med cruise on the Regal Princess in an Club Class mini-suite, and in July on a 17-day Japan cruise on the Diamond Princess in an Club Class mini-suite (now called a Reserve Collection mini-suite), and had a great time on each cruise and never felt shorted. 

 

FWIW my Live From threads on each of our cruises we've been on since cruising started back up is in my below expanded signature.

Edited September 8, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[basenji56]

Celebrity definitely depends on inertia on the part of its passengers--particularly the suite passengers.

 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

34 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here's an example of a Celebrity 7-day Alaska cruise RT Vancouver in April 2024 in a Sunset Sky Suite on the Solstice with a refundable deposit. The per person cost not counting taxes and fees is $5,452. 

 

 

Here's is a similar 7-day Princess cruise in an aft-facing Vista Suite on the Ruby Princess with one of 3 perk packages to choose from, all with a refundable deposit. BTW you also get free unlimited laundry when you book a full suite on PCL ship. But you also don't get a butler, which is fine with us.

 

 

Then here is the per person cost for a HAL aft-facing Neptune suite on the Koningsdam. In this case if you book the cruise over a year out, you can either book it with a Cruise Only Fare or with the Have It All Early Booking Bonus, which in this particular case is $3,499 per person with a refundable deposit.

 

 

Hope this helps to compare costs of suites on similar Celebrity, Princess, and HAL cruises. In our case we have booked the PCL one, to include the cruise before at as well as after it. 

Just wow!  This is so helpful!  Thank you for taking the time to look tis up.  I guess I need to do some more investigating into HA in the Club Orange for sure.  Princess looks compelling as well.  I need to get past the stereotype Old Geezers' cruise (on Princess)...no offence intended to my fellow old geezers.

[alyssamma]

32 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Not sure what you mean by cutting stuff. Since cruising started back up, we have been on an 18-day Panama Canal cruise on the Caribbean Princess is an aft-facing VS, a 21-day Med cruise on the Regal Princess in an Club Class mini-suite, and in July on a 17-day Japan cruise on the Diamond Princess in an Club Class mini-suite (now called a Reserve Collection mini-suite), and had a great time on each cruise and never felt shorted. 

 

FWIW my Live From threads on each of our cruises we've been on since cruising started back up is in my below expanded signature.

It is all small things...like free delivery of their medallions.

 

The most recent is the change of Alfredo's to be no longer free,

 

Like I said, all small...I'm sure HAL is cutting stuff too but I'm not aware of it. Lol, a more regular HAL cruiser could prob correct me.

[basenji56]

I still cruise Celebrity but I am transitioning over to Oceania.  I just got off Regatta for an Alaska cruise.  Superior experience in many regards.  More expensive but more included.  As someone who loves shellfish, I love the fact that I can have lobster tail for lunch every day and many evenings.  No $18 charge for a second tail.  

[mitz18]

38 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here's an example of a Celebrity 7-day Alaska cruise RT Vancouver in April 2024 in a Sunset Sky Suite on the Solstice with a refundable deposit. The per person cost not counting taxes and fees is $5,452. 

 

 

Here's is a similar 7-day Princess cruise in an aft-facing Vista Suite on the Ruby Princess with one of 3 perk packages to choose from, all with a refundable deposit. BTW you also get free unlimited laundry when you book a full suite on PCL ship. But you also don't get a butler, which is fine with us.

 

 

Then here is the per person cost for a HAL aft-facing Neptune suite on the Koningsdam. In this case if you book the cruise over a year out, you can either book it with a Cruise Only Fare or with the Have It All Early Booking Bonus, which in this particular case is $3,499 per person with a refundable deposit.

 

 

Hope this helps to compare costs of suites on similar Celebrity, Princess, and HAL cruises. In our case we have booked the PCL one, to include the cruise before at as well as after it. 

For suites I'd agree that X tends to be more expensive than others.  However, if you compare say balcony rooms these three lines are close.  I looked at a balcony/veranda room on each of the above trips, 2 people, middle deck cabins, each one with "all-in" package (tips, drinks, wifi) and taxes and came up with total price for 2 passengers:

Celebrity @ $4,076

Princess @ $4,078

HAL @ $4,838

So saying that Celebrity is being killed in prices as a "across the board" statement is not fair.  Saying they are overpricing their suites is a fair statement, one I would agree with, & one that is frustrating me to no end and forcing me to look elsewhere. 

[basenji56]

1 minute ago, mitz18 said:

For suites I'd agree that X tends to be more expensive than others.  However, if you compare say balcony rooms these three lines are close.  I looked at a balcony/veranda room on each of the above trips, 2 people, middle deck cabins, each one with "all-in" package (tips, drinks, wifi) and taxes and came up with total price for 2 passengers:

Celebrity @ $4,076

Princess @ $4,078

HAL @ $4,838

So saying that Celebrity is being killed in prices as a "across the board" statement is not fair.  Saying they are overpricing their suites is a fair statement, one I would agree with, & one that is frustrating me to no end and forcing me to look elsewhere. 

But do HAL and Princess have a private pool?  That seems to be a big factor in favor of Celebrity? 

[villauk]

40 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Not sure what you mean by cutting stuff. Since cruising started back up, we have been on an 18-day Panama Canal cruise on the Caribbean Princess is an aft-facing VS, a 21-day Med cruise on the Regal Princess in an Club Class mini-suite, and in July on a 17-day Japan cruise on the Diamond Princess in an Club Class mini-suite (now called a Reserve Collection mini-suite), and had a great time on each cruise and never felt shorted. 

 

FWIW my Live From threads on each of our cruises we've been on since cruising started back up is in my below expanded signature.

 

The changes on Princess came after your cruises. We found out a week before we cruised that we weren’t grandfathered in, even though we had the Plus package and had made final payment 3 months prior. Many pax were complaining at GS on our sailing as we were the first sailing after the implementations on Sky Princess - no official notification from Princess until we boarded - so they left the crew to face all the complaints.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Just wow!  This is so helpful!  Thank you for taking the time to look tis up.  I guess I need to do some more investigating into HA in the Club Orange for sure.  Princess looks compelling as well.  I need to get past the stereotype Old Geezers' cruise (on Princess)...no offence intended to my fellow old geezers.

What's funny is we hadn't been on a HAL cruise since 2019 because of some major entertainment shifts HAL was implementing back then. Since then we've cruised mostly with Celebrity and PCL because we like to go to their evening shows as well as their game shows every night. However, when it comes to making us laugh, Princess and their entertainment staff as well as the CD wins over Celebrity every time. Princess also has some pretty cool 3-5 week itineraries which we really like.

 

But when Celebrity's prices started going up and their itineraries were the same "cookie cutter" ones they always have, we took a fresh look at HAL, and we liked what we saw. Not only were their prices very competitive, but they also still offered some pretty cool 3-5 week itineraries as well. So for us, HAL is now our #2 cruise line right behind PCL and Celebrity has fallen to #4 right behind NCL. I know, NCL? 

 

Funny thing happened last Fall when we were on our 38-day Africa cruise (see below signature for the Live From thread) on the NCL Jade. Once we stopped comparing NCL to Celebrity and Princess and started appreciating what they had to offer on this quite well designed 2000 pax Jewel-class ship, we started having a great time. I know, who knew! 😂

[mitz18]

6 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

But do HAL and Princess have a private pool?  That seems to be a big factor in favor of Celebrity? 

and I don't know (don't think) if they (HAL/Princ) have a private dining option for suite (or a private lounge).

[Jeremiah1212]

50 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here's an example of a Celebrity 7-day Alaska cruise RT Vancouver in April 2024 in a Sunset Sky Suite on the Solstice with a refundable deposit. The per person cost not counting taxes and fees is $5,452. 

 

Here's is a similar 7-day Princess cruise in an aft-facing Vista Suite on the Ruby Princess with one of 3 perk packages to choose from, all with a refundable deposit. BTW you also get free unlimited laundry when you book a full suite on PCL ship. But you also don't get a butler, which is fine with us.

 

Then here is the per person cost for a HAL aft-facing Neptune suite on the Koningsdam. In this case if you book the cruise over a year out, you can either book it with a Cruise Only Fare or with the Have It All Early Booking Bonus, which in this particular case is $3,499 per person with a refundable deposit.

 

Hope this helps to compare costs of suites on similar Celebrity, Princess, and HAL cruises. In our case we have booked the PCL one, to include the cruise before at as well as after it. 

 

Celebrity has been pretty consistently on par with NCL pricing versus HAL or Princess in both Alaska and Caribbean. I think the suite level product is more consistently comparable between X and NCL. You don't hear people often on here saying Haven is superior to Retreat mostly because NCL is quite often more expensive than Celebrity's Retreat and comes with less so it's not a good candidate for argument or comparison. 

 

You could take this example and move to Vancouver on Jewel to start at about $1,000 less. Gratuities are not included in that price (at $25 pp/pd). 

[Ken the cruiser]

14 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

It is all small things...like free delivery of their medallions.

 

The most recent is the change of Alfredo's to be no longer free,

 

Like I said, all small...I'm sure HAL is cutting stuff too but I'm not aware of it. Lol, a more regular HAL cruiser could prob correct me.

Understand.

[Ken the cruiser]

12 minutes ago, mitz18 said:

For suites I'd agree that X tends to be more expensive than others.  However, if you compare say balcony rooms these three lines are close.  I looked at a balcony/veranda room on each of the above trips, 2 people, middle deck cabins, each one with "all-in" package (tips, drinks, wifi) and taxes and came up with total price for 2 passengers:

Celebrity @ $4,076

Princess @ $4,078

HAL @ $4,838

So saying that Celebrity is being killed in prices as a "across the board" statement is not fair.  Saying they are overpricing their suites is a fair statement, one I would agree with, & one that is frustrating me to no end and forcing me to look elsewhere. 

Does the Celebrity price include the 20% for a refundable deposit?

[Ken the cruiser]

12 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

But do HAL and Princess have a private pool?  That seems to be a big factor in favor of Celebrity? 

What private pool? 

[mitz18]

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Does the Celebrity price include the 20% for a refundable deposit?

Ken - I did not add the refundable option on any of the three ships.  Are all HAL & Princess standard rates refundable? 

[basenji56]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

What private pool? 

Celebrity heavily markets "The Retreat."  A pool where only suite passengers are allowed.

 

[mitz18]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

What private pool? 

Some of the Celebrity vessels sell the suites as "The Retreat" & that includes a private pool & bar area requiring a suite key to enter.  Suite guest also have a separate dining area and cocktail lounge.  The Retreat is a big draw.

[mitz18]

7 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

What private pool? 

example of the Beyond's Retreat area which I can confirm is rather nice