Fifteen Minutes won't change this

[Ipeeinthepools]

 

For the first time in many, many years this is what I see on the Celebrity website and I'm not sure it will change anytime soon.   High prices, E-class ships, a new definition of Always Included and the lack of longer itineraries have caused me to look else to send my vacation time.  I suspect there are many other cruisers in the same situation.

 

Maybe the new CEO will change the situation.

 

 

[chemmo]

1 hour ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

For the first time in many, many years this is what I see on the Celebrity website and I'm not sure it will change anytime soon.   High prices, E-class ships, a new definition of Always Included and the lack of longer itineraries have caused me to look else to send my vacation time.  I suspect there are many other cruisers in the same situation.

 

Maybe the new CEO will change the situation.

 

 

Yes! We are in, or rather not in, the same boat!
 

We would usually have a cruise from Southampton, a Caribbean cruise and a ‘something else’ (Mediterranean or world wide) booked too over an 18 month period. I can’t blame it all on Celebrity, owing to some mobility issues I find I need to pay business for flights for long haul and they have become ultra expensive too! 

 

We presently have one cruise booked on Infinity next year and I am really watching the very mixed reviews on this ship coming through. 

 

Southampton cruises for us are definitely more about a bit of Autumn sunshine than itinerary but the cost is really expensive. The arrival of E class to replace Silhouette has not gone down well. As you say, with the changes as to what is included, that adds further to the cost too…

 

I have looked at other cruise lines but I don’t fancy some (the small and the very big) and others seem to have a ‘something’ I don’t like (Cunard’s dress code)…Princess a possibility but their suites aren’t that cheap either.

 

We have always booked upper suites. I am finding it hard to commit to a 10 day cruise for three when for the same cost I can book 2 x AI luxury resorts for 10 nights each (flight included) in Europe plus a week’s rental in the UK (country or seaside cottage) plus enough left over for a European city break and a bit of change….That is over 30 days quality vacation time vs 10 nights…Another anomaly is (if I can face economy flights) it is cheaper for me to fly to Florida to cruise on S class (RS) and see Mickey Mouse for a few days than to cruise from Southampton on E class (RS) where there isn’t enough room on the balcony for the three of us!

 

Will we do our Infinity cruise? It will depend on how much they achieve in the February refresh. I am not bothered about it being ‘Revolutionised’ (I know that isn’t scheduled) but I would like the reassurance that furnishings, balcony railings etc are being addressed. If we don’t do this cruise then who knows? After many years of cruising being our ‘main’ holidays they may become the occasional. 

Edited December 8, 2023 by chemmo

[laslomas]

 

3 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

For the first time in many, many years this is what I see on the Celebrity website and I'm not sure it will change anytime soon.   High prices, E-class ships, a new definition of Always Included and the lack of longer itineraries have caused me to look else to send my vacation time.  I suspect there are many other cruisers in the same situation.

 

Maybe the new CEO will change the situation.

 

 

 

Yes, I am the same. For me I find the prices have risen so much, alongside the E class now sailing from Southampton, and I really want an 'outside' balcony. I don't mind a fly cruise but Celebrity seem to be way higher priced, even without including drinks or gratuities (I don't care about wifi). So I also have 0 upcoming cruises on Celebrity for the first time in 10+ years   😣

[bikerunner]

I have one  booked.  TA in april.   More my choice than what celebrity is doing. Tho corporate still has a complete disconnect with shipboard overall  I want to go to smaller, ships as i am finding the more mainstream lines to big now.  Switching to a few different azamara and river cruises over the  next cpl years.  The ta i also have added a 10 day stay in rome after the cruise and the river cruises flying in probably a week earlier to explore.  Looking for more unique voyages overall.  Caribbean done with at this point.  I can still get really good prices on celebrity thru group bookings which keep me in my price point i set for mainstream lines tho its on higher end now, i have not adjusted my pp pd i look for since 2015.  I stick with max 250 which also includes any air and hotel stays needed. Still able to get my conceirge and or aqua as have priced out a cpl with the newer itinearies. Not interested in suites as the benefits are not important to me at this point.  Room is to sleep and store clothes at this point in my travels but do need a balcony/infinite verandah for that 10 min a day to escape people. 

[1Virgo]

Same “boat”.    Nothing booked.    We did a cruise  9 days January and then  10 days April/May    We were looking forward to booking another for August or September to celebrate anniversary……then  Laura brought the cuts.   we decided to wait til the slashing stopped to see what was left of the X experience.    We do know we are not interested in the push for 4-5 night cruises.     

 

We ve done many all inclusive resorts throughout the Caribbean in the past, (much cheaper) but love cruising.     Trying to decide which cruise line to try or really lower expectations and book X. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

5 hours ago, chemmo said:

I am finding it hard to commit to a 10 day cruise for three when for the same cost I can book 2 x AI luxury resorts for 10 nights each (flight included) in Europe plus a week’s rental in the UK (country or seaside cottage) plus enough left over for a European city break and a bit of change….

we must be buying very different cruises, because there is no way 20 days in AI luxury resorts with flights included, a week's rental in the UK plus a European city break, with leftover change, would cost $3.5K.

[PTC DAWG]

2 booked here..Ascent in Jan and Beyond in September to ABC’s

[RedIguana]

5 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we must be buying very different cruises, because there is no way 20 days in AI luxury resorts with flights included, a week's rental in the UK plus a European city break, with leftover change, would cost $3.5K.

They said they sail in upper suites. 10 nights for 3 in an upper suite is probably over 20K, not sure where you came up with 3.5K.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 minute ago, RedIguana said:

not sure where you came up with 3.5K.

like I said - we must be buying different cruises, because the 3 of us sail for 10 days for $3.5K. Not in suites, of course.

[NMTraveller]

My issue is that I do not know what I will get when I book a cruise with Celebrity.  We had room service and then additional charges were added.  The food service has been all over the place with additions/deletions,  etc.  The new drink prices have gone up by $3 to $5 per drink.  I booked a drink package that covered most drinks and now it covers fewer ...

Edited December 8, 2023 by NMTraveller

[RedIguana]

1 minute ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

like I said - we must be buying different cruises, because the 3 of us sail for 10 days for $3.5K. Not in suites, of course.

With them sailing in upper level suites, they are pretty much buying different cruises from us steerage class folks.

[Ken the cruiser]

6 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

For the first time in many, many years this is what I see on the Celebrity website and I'm not sure it will change anytime soon.   High prices, E-class ships, a new definition of Always Included and the lack of longer itineraries have caused me to look else to send my vacation time.  I suspect there are many other cruisers in the same situation.

 

Maybe the new CEO will change the situation.

 

 

We agree. Basically, the thrill is gone for us too for pretty much the same reasons you mentioned. Our Galapagos cruise that we’re leaving today for will probably be our last X cruise, until at least 2027 or later. I think the proverbial needle for us was when they chopped our Mar 2025 New Orleans/southern Caribbean cruise, which we subsequently cancelled, from 13 days to 8 to accommodate the younger working crowd.
 

But that’s OK as we have booked some awesome cruises, 15 and counting, over the next 2 years with PCL, NCL, and even HAL if you can believe that. But then we’re in our early 70s and simply not a prime target for X like we were in our late 50s. 

[39august]

NMTraveler I feel the same. You buy one cruise experience and then find the experience you get is NOT what you paid for.  First we lost our much better suite service, now we have lost the two wines that I and my husband most order; Decoy now $19 and Mer Loleil only by the bottle. I have been looking at Holland and if we book any other cruises after Jan. '25, that is where we will go. What really has kept us on X the past year is the non-smoking casino. 

[bigbenboys]

We have Apex booked for June out of Southampton. 11 nights in a sky suite. The cost is $12k. Our last cruise in Sept on Eclipse the food was not that good in Luminae. Mer Soleil by the bottle only is disturbing😱. I hope I can get Mer Soleil by the glass in the Retreat.

[chemmo]

51 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we must be buying very different cruises, because there is no way 20 days in AI luxury resorts with flights included, a week's rental in the UK plus a European city break, with leftover change, would cost $3.5K.

 

As RedIguana said…

 

47 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

They said they sail in upper suites. 10 nights for 3 in an upper suite is probably over 20K, not sure where you came up with 3.5K.

 

I am not rich but trying to enjoy the opportunities left before travel becomes too hard to enjoy.  Cruising had become less about the destinations and more about the on board experience. We all make choices with the budgets we have…When a RS was a certain amount I was comfortable with the price…Now I am not so sure when I see the alternatives I can spend my £££ on. 
 

 

 

 

[miched]

I was debating booking  a B2B cruise on the Xcel.    The prices were way too high for a suite and the other prices weren’t cheap.   It was late at night and I decided to wait until the next day to investigate more and decide what we wanted to do.   When I looked at the cruises again the next day the prices went up $200 pp per cruise because of their new sale promotion. That made my decision very easy.  
 

They will sail without me.  It was high enough to begin with and who knows what other cuts, and changes  will happen by the cruise dates in  Mar 2026.    
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[DaKahuna]

8 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

For the first time in many, many years this is what I see on the Celebrity website and I'm not sure it will change anytime soon.   High prices, E-class ships, a new definition of Always Included and the lack of longer itineraries have caused me to look else to send my vacation time.  I suspect there are many other cruisers in the same situation.

 

Maybe the new CEO will change the situation.

 

 

 

 With the exception of a previously booked cruise this coming May on Millennium, we are in exactly the same situation.  Celebrity has reduced benefits and increased prices to the point we no longer think of them first and foremost.  I believe it is commonly referred to as "Death by 1000 cuts" 

 

[hcat]

3 hours ago, RedIguana said:

With them sailing in upper level suites, they are pretty much buying different cruises from us steerage class folks.

Do you really believe anyone  on Celebrity is  actually in steerage clsss..? 

 

Some older ships could be retired or fully  refurbished, but in our opinion  Celebrity is certainly not in  the bottom end of cruise lines.  We still enjoy  it!

Edited December 8, 2023 by hcat

[Joker54]

10 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

For the first time in many, many years this is what I see on the Celebrity website and I'm not sure it will change anytime soon.   High prices, E-class ships, a new definition of Always Included and the lack of longer itineraries have caused me to look else to send my vacation time.  I suspect there are many other cruisers in the same situation.

 

Maybe the new CEO will change the situation.

 

 

We normally have 12 cruises booked, we are down to 5 at the moment and all of those booked over a year ago. We booked most of them before prices went crazy and a bean counter became CEO. We also always book future cruises when on a cruise. We haven't visited the future cruise desk since these changes have come to be.

 

We also down graded a SS to a Sunset Veranda room on our Transatlantic on the Ascent next Oct saving around 10K. We were happy to the lose the $200 OBC to save 10K on that cruise.

 

The last suite manager that I spoke with about the topic indicated that it will be a few more years before anything goes back to the way it was. I agree, it will take more than a few quarters of reduced revenue before changes happen.

 

Cheers

[D. B.]

8 future cruises booked with Celebrity and I am satisfied with the product.

 We tried other (mostly more Expensive) Cruise lines and found out we did Not like smaller ships and it seems the More Expensive the Cruise Line the Less FUN things are included.

   It's a great Time to Cruise because with all the Different Kinds of Cruise Lines available there is Something for Every taste and expectation!

 Sail On..................

[RedIguana]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

Do you really believe anyone  on Celebrity is  actually in steerage clsss..? 

Compared to the literal historic use, no modern cruise line could legally sell steerage class. Using the definition of lowest available class, yes, there are inside cabins. In my case, I was using steerage class as a humorous way of distinguishing the suite class experience (and cost) versus what the other 90 percent of the ship passengers experience. I was in no way attempting to criticize Celebrity or their ships, and certainly was not trying to offend anyone.

 

No actual steers were harmed in the posting of this message

[D. B.]

Well I guess the Crews quarters are the closest thing to the Old Steerage Class on today's cruise ships?

[NutsAboutGolf]

12 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

For the first time in many, many years this is what I see on the Celebrity website and I'm not sure it will change anytime soon.   High prices, E-class ships, a new definition of Always Included and the lack of longer itineraries have caused me to look else to send my vacation time.  I suspect there are many other cruisers in the same situation.

 

Maybe the new CEO will change the situation.

 

 

 

FYI, as @Joker54 pointed out, the new CEO is RCG.  When they replaced LLP, they stripped the title of CEO so now Laura is only the new President, not the CEO

[RedIguana]

7 minutes ago, D. B. said:

Well I guess the Crews quarters are the closest thing to the Old Steerage Class on today's cruise ships?

Using the lowest class available to anyone on the ship vs passengers, sure. I believe today's crew cabins would roughly compare historically to second class on the old liners from photos I have seen. Minus a few modern amenities of course.

[HskrCrsr]

As with so many others on this thread, we have booked nothing new and have no intention of cruising with Celebrity again until the things we enjoy are restored. Exception: we have a Galapagos cruise booked but we pushed it out, and will do so again until we feel better about the company. We are fortunate that we booked with the reduced deposit for booking onboard, so the investment and risk is low. We are looking at more land packages than ever before.