Does Celebrity Think We Are Stupid?

[OceanCruise]

I am insulted by this response Celebrity sent me today in regard to an email I wrote to them well over a month ago. It would have been better if they had not responded at all because, IMO, this indicates they think their customers are stupid. I had written to the executive office explaining I am Elite Plus with Celebrity and normally sail in Sky Suites. I stated I have always enjoyed the pampering, great service in Sky Suites but am now concerned about my upcoming two cruises in Sky Suites due to the butler staff changes implemented after I had booked and no option to cancel without penalty. I asked several specific questions, such as: Will the Retreat Hosts now have fewer rooms to attend to due to their additional duties for Sky Suite passengers? Is Celebrity increasing the number of Retreat Concierges to accommodate the increased demand on them? I also noted I am concerned about the many poor reviews on Cruise Critic from cruisers who never even met the Head Butler and apparent decline in service reported. I asked specifically how these staff changes will create an elevated experience, which Celebrity had expressed as justification for removing the dedicated butlers. I received this response today (I left off the person's name):

 

Thank you for contacting the Executive Office of Celebrity Cruises. Your recent email to Ms. Hodges was forwarded to my attention, and I am glad to have this opportunity to follow up with you on her behalf.

 

I am grateful that you took the time to share your concerns regarding the recent changes and updates made to Celebrity Cruise. Please be assured that these changes were implemented to enhance the cruising experience for our guests, particularly with regard to the increasing popularity of Celebrity Cruises Suite amenities."

 

Again, thank you for reaching out to us.

 

While I understand the executive assistants have to support company policy, this did not show any appreciation for my loyalty and made no attempt to answer my questions or alleviate my concerns. It actually made me more pi**ed  off because it reinforces they really don't care about their customer base.

 

 

 

 

[RichYak]

Yes is the answer to your question.

[peterde]

Yes. 

[PTC DAWG]

What did you expect them to say? 

[ExArkie]

I don’t know that they believe their customers to be stupid so much as they want people who write lengthy letters of complaint over conditions they have not yet experienced and who are asking for them to justify their cost-cutting measures to just go away. Not saying you were at fault for doing so, but your synopsis above did ask them to justify a lot of decisions that have already implemented and will only change if it costs them money. 
 

Having been assigned to respond to members of the public in similar situations, I was told not to engage in debate, to write a short response that did not imply follow-up would be welcome, and to reinforce the company position in as few words as possible. Sounds like you got that letter.

 

So, no, I don’t think they believe we are stupid, just a nuisance. 

[emmas gran]

Just spent 40 nights on Edge in a Sky Suite, as I have posted we saw our butler 3 times and he mostly complained about having 40+ suites to look after. Our Retreat host was fine but had no time to do the little extras, probably looking elsewhere for future cruises.

 

There were an older from UK who do not use cruise critic that had no idea of the changes and were very disappointed. He asked us what it have cost to send an email to everyone booked when the change was implemented to avoid their disappointment.

[RichYak]

9 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

...when the change was implemented...

Celebrity would prefer if you referred to it as "enhancement".

[hcat]

always good to vent but seems the new plan is in place!

 

Consensus is  if you cannot cancel,    try to enjoy any booked cruises and then decide how to proceed in the future!

[Northern Aurora]

We were on the same three cruises with @emmas gran.  We were also in the same sunset sky suite for all three legs.  We were totally underwhelmed by the “enhanced” butler team experience.  
 

We have four more B2B pairs booked (8 reservation numbers), all booked in either Sky or celebrity suites.   Doubt we will take all of those cruises.  We are Zenith members of the loyalty program and for the first time in how many years left the ship without booking a future cruise.  It was that bad.  

[MACruisers]

I have 4 Sky suites booked on the Ascent ( a B2B in Feb/March of 2024) and a B2B on Ascent (Feb/March of 2025). I will enjoy the cruise and make a fair assessment of the “Enhancements”. 
Like the previous poster, I am Elite plus and have always cruised in a Sky Suite (M, S, & E class).  Sky suites are the perfect room for us and don’t really feel the need to book a larger suite.  It appears Celebrity is trying to encourage  customers to book UP if they want the same amenities they have been paying for.  
I don’t like that Celebrity changed the product after they sold it, or that they are trying to sell it off as an enhancement. 
That said, I will reserve final judgement until I actually experience the product, enjoy my vacation either way, express my opinion to the appropriate people on board and on the survey and finally decide with my feet and wallet if necessary.  
 

The suites are booking as they noted in the response, they won’t miss me (YET). And another line may be happy to take my business. 

[zitsky]

35 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

I don’t know that they believe their customers to be stupid so much as they want people who write lengthy letters of complaint over conditions they have not yet experienced and who are asking for them to justify their cost-cutting measures to just go away. Not saying you were at fault for doing so, but your synopsis above did ask them to justify a lot of decisions that have already implemented and will only change if it costs them money. 
 

Having been assigned to respond to members of the public in similar situations, I was told not to engage in debate, to write a short response that did not imply follow-up would be welcome, and to reinforce the company position in as few words as possible. Sounds like you got that letter.

 

So, no, I don’t think they believe we are stupid, just a nuisance. 

Please tell me what company you worked for and whether or not they have gotten a clue yet about good customer service.  I’d like to avoid them in future.

 

Do you think OP is a nuisance because I wrote almost that exact same letter?  Don’t lie to me.  I can tell.  I took a marketing class in business school.

[zitsky]

13 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

We were on the same three cruises with @emmas gran.  We were also in the same sunset sky suite for all three legs.  We were totally underwhelmed by the “enhanced” butler team experience.  
 

We have four more B2B pairs booked (8 reservation numbers), all booked in either Sky or celebrity suites.   Doubt we will take all of those cruises.  We are Zenith members of the loyalty program and for the first time in how many years left the ship without booking a future cruise.  It was that bad.  

We are all interested to know, if you would be willing to share it, what you’ve told the executive office as a Zenith.  They don’t listen to me even though I found a prize in my Cracker Jack box.  Maybe because I’ve only had one SS and booked a second before the changes were announced.  

I think I’m exactly the customer they should attract.  Not a frequent cruiser but when I do, I like to spend money.  SS could be an entry to higher suites but not if they change the rules.  I don’t want to book a “real” suite just to be told “haha you have no butler”.

[Baynanno1]

 

Whether they think we are stupid or not, it certainly looks like they have little comprehension of the words they use.

 

Enhancement : the state or quality of being elevated, heightened, or increased, as in quality, degree, intensity, or value.

 

*elevated (higher or greater than normal)

 

*heightened (raised in quantity or quality)

 

*increased (made greater in amount or value)

 

We will do our March cruise in a Sunset Sky Suite and depending on our experience on that cruise will either do or cancel two other (fully refundable) booked cruises.

[zitsky]

2 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

Whether they think we are stupid or not, it certainly looks like they have little comprehension of the words they use.

 

Enhancement : the state or quality of being elevated, heightened, or increased, as in quality, degree, intensity, or value.

 

*elevated (higher or greater than normal)

 

*heightened (raised in quantity or quality)

 

*increased (made greater in amount or value)

 

We will do our March cruise in a Sunset Sky Suite and depending on our experience on that cruise will either do or cancel two other (fully refundable) booked cruises.

For Celebrity, every day is Opposite Day.

[swigso]

39 minutes ago, MACruisers said:

The suites are booking as they noted in the response, they won’t miss me (YET). And another line may be happy to take my business. 

We have sailings booked in March in Sky Suites and also have one booked for May 25 which we may change. BUT and it is a big but we have looked at sailings for March 25 as we are thinking of moving our May booking. 
Almost all the sailings we have looked at have most sky suites available (all edge class ) never seen this before. 
We are seriously thinking if the service is  not what we were used to receiving that we will be spending our $$$’s elsewhere. What I don’t understand is that they had a great product which consumers loved, they then changed it which those same consumers seem to hate.
i am also hearing that Decoy is now priced higher than the cost of a drink in the premium package. Corporate suicide it seems I cannot figure it out.

I will wait and see but there are plenty of choices, we tried Azamara in October. The experience was good the food much better but the ship was just too small so maybe Haven or Yacht Club who knows. We will wait and see.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

The Sky Suite are still selling 

For the Equinox Nov 2024 TA , there are 3 Sky Suites available and the are HC and only 7 Sunset  Sky Suite available, 5 are under the OVC 

So Celebrity marketing must be working 

[paulh84]

You can debate, surmise, complain and discuss with other hyper-cruisers on Cruise Critic all day long. Executives (or their reps) are not going to open debate with you to justify or rationalize decisions that were tactically made months ago. Until their changes produce a negative quantifiable impact on the bottom line, what’s done is done. 

[goofysmom99]

14 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

The Sky Suite are still selling 

For the Equinox Nov 2024 TA , there are 3 Sky Suites available and the are HC and only 7 Sunset  Sky Suite available, 5 are under the OVC 

So Celebrity marketing must be working 

Those are what remain Now.  They were much, much ($4K+) cheaper just a few months ago when I was considering one.  Price ($16K) today for a 12-night sky suite is hilarious.

 

So OP, I guess Celebrity thinks of us along the same lines as P.T. Barnum....

[paulh84]

8 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

Those are what remain Now.  They were much, much ($4K+) cheaper just a few months ago when I was considering one.  Price ($16K) today for a 12-night sky suite is hilarious.

 

So OP, I guess Celebrity thinks of us along the same lines as P.T. Barnum....

 

In this case Move Ups are a win-win. Let it sit at $14k and someone very well may pay it. Worst case scenario is it doesn’t sell and you can be assured somone has a $3/4/5k+ bid waiting to snag the upgrade. Chances of those cabins going empty are nearly null. 

[RichYak]

9 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

Price ($16K) today for a 12-night sky suite is hilarious.

The price I see is $10,500 for either Sunset Sky Suite or Aqua Sky Suite.

[NMTraveller]

Yes.

[NutsAboutGolf]

The only question is, when will this trickle down (or up) to the next lowest suite category of the Celebrity suites?

[CulverCityCruisers]

Yes they do

 

[islabahia]

We decided to cancel our SS on Reflection next December.  The product we loved is nothing like the product on offer today.  We walked away from a $200 deposit.  We are booked in a PH on Oceania next November for less $$ than our SS would have been.

[horseymike]

As long as folks keep purchasing the cruises they will continue to sell them , and at an escalating price. The only thing that gets their attention is loss of $$$$.