Celebrity is turning into a rip off

[Liao]

22 minutes ago, stevenr597 said:

We like Celebrity, but recently we have decided that Princess is a better value.  We usually book Reserve Class Mini-Suite on Princess.  But we are also scheduled to sale Holland America a during October, 2025. 

Is that equivalent to a SS or CS?

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, gizmodog said:

Yes I can share,the reason I was, am hesitant its because then all of the celebrity fans will reply with some discouraging words of why they don’t like the cruiseline.

its Holland America. Three cruises booked two in Neptune suites and one a veranda. all included tips included on one, not on the other two.

We just returned from a HAL last June and really enjoyed it. So I hope we have a good time on these also.
 

I’m not old enough, from what I’ve read…enjoy. 

[Avidcruiser321]

3 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

Did you try this?  They won't upgrade you for $0 but if you can find a better cabin that you want for little $$ over what you paid they have always done that as an "upgrade" charging the delta between what you paid and the prevailing rate.

So here is the update!  I did call to try the upgrade idea.  I asked to upgrade to Prime Aqua class (from our regular balcony) and the price difference was not big enough.  Prime Aqua in a suite was still less than we paid, so they couldn't do it as the price needs to be higher than what I paid.  So no go.  The next option up was to a big sky suite which was waaaay more.

 

So worth a try, but no luck.  Just goes to show the original point of the post is true - I got ripped off. 

 

And to all the Internet bosses who will now chime in to say I'm not allowed to feel that way - please save your breath.  I am allowed to feel however I want about it right now.  And I am sure I'll still have a nice time when the cruise comes along!

[gizmodog]

 

What did you like about it?  Is there a good variety of restaurants?  What about entertainment?

 

I ask these questions not to be rude (as one poster told me I was) but to show interest in your experience.  

I am happy with Celebrity in Aqua.  But I do see that the Sky Suites are expensive.  So I am getting prices for other cruise lines.  At current prices I think we’re happy in Aqua though we have one more SS booked on Celebrity

 

everybody enjoys different things on a cruise, celebrity probably has better entertainment. HAL has different music venues, their food is more to my liking, their burger cafe is much better then celebrity, again, my opinion.

their buffet has so many choices.

i enjoy their casinos and their bars. 
they have a Catholic mass on sunday

most importantly to me, they have real balconies, and longer then

5-7 day itineraries.

look at their itineraries sometime they are quite impressive.

their service is excellent also. 
 

 

[Liao]

3 minutes ago, gizmodog said:

 

 

What did you like about it?  Is there a good variety of restaurants?  What about entertainment?

 

I ask these questions not to be rude (as one poster told me I was) but to show interest in your experience.  

I am happy with Celebrity in Aqua.  But I do see that the Sky Suites are expensive.  So I am getting prices for other cruise lines.  At current prices I think we’re happy in Aqua though we have one more SS booked on Celebrity

 

everybody enjoys different things on a cruise, celebrity probably has better entertainment. HAL has different music venues, their food is more to my liking, their burger cafe is much better then celebrity, again, my opinion.

their buffet has so many choices.

i enjoy their casinos and their bars. 
they have a Catholic mass on sunday

most importantly to me, they have real balconies, and longer then

5-7 day itineraries.

look at their itineraries sometime they are quite impressive.

their service is excellent also. 
 

 

They do have nice longer itineraries for sure.  I’m not looking to change from Celebrity but if I were, I’d most likely only consider HAL.

[Avidcruiser321]

3 minutes ago, gizmodog said:

 

 

What did you like about it?  Is there a good variety of restaurants?  What about entertainment?

 

I ask these questions not to be rude (as one poster told me I was) but to show interest in your experience.  

I am happy with Celebrity in Aqua.  But I do see that the Sky Suites are expensive.  So I am getting prices for other cruise lines.  At current prices I think we’re happy in Aqua though we have one more SS booked on Celebrity

 

everybody enjoys different things on a cruise, celebrity probably has better entertainment. HAL has different music venues, their food is more to my liking, their burger cafe is much better then celebrity, again, my opinion.

their buffet has so many choices.

i enjoy their casinos and their bars. 
they have a Catholic mass on sunday

most importantly to me, they have real balconies, and longer then

5-7 day itineraries.

look at their itineraries sometime they are quite impressive.

their service is excellent also. 
 

 

Having sailed all 3 lines I would add the following observations from my perspective:

- agree that Celebrity has the best "big shows".  The production numbers with the singers and dancers on main stage.  Princess is more hit and miss.  And on HAL it's a very different focus.  They have what they call their "music walk" deck, which has a number of different venues with different types of music (Blues, Rock, dualing pianos, etc.).  They are smaller (but not tiny) and they take turns so you can move from one to the other and they don't compete against each other with noise overflow.There are GREAT musicians in these venues, but it's just quite different from the production "Vegas style" shows approach.

- Celebrity MDR is still the best.  Maybe I just have had bad luck on HAL, or I just have got used to the Celebrity menu!  Princess has best (free) appy's and dessert selection.

- HAL Pizza bar and burger bar on the main pool deck are excellent and the best of these lines.

- I really like the Solstice class solarium's for a day of reading at sea!  The fact that the Konigsdam class HAL ships can close in their whole main pool deck is a big feature for Alaska (or other foul weather) cruises.

- Although it took me a few cruises to become a believer, I now really like the medallion with Princess.  Once they got the app working properly it is very slick.  You can book things, order things, see menu's, your cabin door opens as you walk up, etc. It's great.

- the martini bar on Celebrity is always a big favourite gathering place and they do fun shows.

- service used to be better on Celebrity, but I think last few cruises Princess has actually been better.  HAL seems to have fewer staff than the others, but that may be more of a post Covid thing to be fair.

 

I'm sure there's more, but hope that is interesting to somebody!

 

[gold1953]

7 hours ago, Avidcruiser321 said:

So here is the update!  I did call to try the upgrade idea.  I asked to upgrade to Prime Aqua class (from our regular balcony) and the price difference was not big enough.  Prime Aqua in a suite was still less than we paid, so they couldn't do it as the price needs to be higher than what I paid.  So no go.  The next option up was to a big sky suite which was waaaay more.

 

So worth a try, but no luck.  Just goes to show the original point of the post is true - I got ripped off. 

 

And to all the Internet bosses who will now chime in to say I'm not allowed to feel that way - please save your breath.  I am allowed to feel however I want about it right now.  And I am sure I'll still have a nice time when the cruise comes along!

so watch the prices daily until the the Aqua goes up a bit and call back. O am sorry you feel ripped off but this is normal and you were happy when you booked.

[prmssk]

@Avidcruiser321  I get that it's hard to watch that price drop.  It happened to me on a Princess cruise in 2022.  It didn't help that it was a cruise we felt like we overpaid for (we had booked it because family wanted that particular cruise).  But when I think of my cruises overall which I usually track, usually the price has gone up.  The going rate for my cabin category Celebrity Eclipse (Hawaii to Vancouver) last May was $1,000 more than I paid in the weeks after final payment.  The going rate for my cabin category on my upcoming Royal Caribbean cruise is actually double what I am paying.  

 

I sure don't want them coming after me for more money so I accept their limits when it comes to reducing my fare with price drops.

 

I hope you have a great cruise!  We really enjoyed that itinerary last year.  I had an amazing snorkeling experience from Kona.  And we spent three nights in Honolulu ahead of time which gave us a chance to go to a Luau, take a tour of the Kualoa Ranch, hike Diamond Head, and drive some beautiful scenic roads.

[zitsky]

9 hours ago, Avidcruiser321 said:

And to all the Internet bosses who will now chime in to say I'm not allowed to feel that way - please save your breath.  I am allowed to feel however I want about it right now.  And I am sure I'll still have a nice time when the cruise comes along!

This is Cruise Critic.  You get to feel however you want.  And the rest of us get to share our opinion.  That’s how the internet works.  
 

Cruising and flying is not like going to a gas station.  Wait a minute?  Why do I have to pay more for Premium 93 when everyone else gets to pay for Regular 87.  Why,  I’VE BEEN RIPPED OFF!

 

And to all the internet bosses who say that’s not how it works, why did I have to to pay $3.65 for gas last week when others get to pay $3.50 this week?

Edited March 14 by zitsky

[Cruise till you drop]

On 3/12/2024 at 9:35 PM, hcat said:

We book the cruises we want..

(dates, itin,  &  ship)  as early as we can..with the best deal we find. 

 

We   pick our rm..do not change, do not bid to move up or chase  reductions.  Usually,  we are way ahead in pricing from those who book later.

 

 

We buy insurance just in case it's needed.   Prices can go up or down..some will get  a last minute bargain..we did once!

 

But I see no injustice here.

Sad for losing a port ( Lahaina) but that was  not our fav anyhow.

 

If OP is very unhappy..maybe cancel, take the penalty and start fresh..and figure out something for air

This is exactly us.  It’s kind of a damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

 

For example, let’s say this cruise was heavily booked and we are in the current day and considering that cruise.  It most certainly would have been more expensive.

 

We don’t look at prices after we book.  We decide what we want to spend, book it (very early), and then await the day when we can sail.  Very simple

[WestLakeGirl]

Question for the OP. You booked at a certain price so apparently you thought that was a good price for the cruise.  If the Price has never gone down after you made final payment, would you still consider it a rip off? Hmmmmm….

[zitsky]

15 minutes ago, WestLakeGirl said:

Question for the OP. You booked at a certain price so apparently you thought that was a good price for the cruise.  If the Price has never gone down after you made final payment, would you still consider it a rip off? Hmmmmm….

I was asking recently about changing a booking from one category to another.  But this thread has taught me to be happy with what I booked and enjoy it.  I have never been the person who sees a $100 drop and runs to rebook / reprice the cruise.

Edited March 14 by zitsky

[miched]

We recently did a MSC in Yacht Club, and the Retreat on Celebrity.   We booked 2 cruises on MSC and none on Celebrity.  We have 2 more already booked on Celebrity but when done we may not book anymore.    

 

On Celebrity we did not see any butlers.   The room attendant took their place.    In the past the butler would see you walking down the hall and would open your door.  See you carrying a drink and would carry it for you and insist on doing that.   We would normally ask for coffee in the morning to be delivered to the cabin.  It seemed to be more of a hassle and the one time we asked for it we felt as if we were annoying them.   MSC provided the service that Celebrity use to.  
 

Celebrity needs to up their game instead making more cuts with higher prices.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Hawkstar33]

On 3/12/2024 at 11:01 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Understand your frustration but even as a Double Zenith (over 6,000) points the same happened to me on my Edge Singapore to Sydney... .except my CS at $25,000 dropped to $15,000.

There are always opportunities.   Check out the prices of higher classifications and see if you can find a deal, as they are also discounted.    I was able to upgrade to a RS  for only an additional $350.   I did loose $800 OBC from booking on board but to me it was worth it. 

I previously posted what I thought was a joke....I hope you took it that way, as I have seen some really nasty comments go untouched on this site..It was removed by moderator, and seen by them as useless to the content of the discussion...Nastiness as they must have taken it, was not my intention....I enjoy your comments Jim.   

[critterchick]

On 3/13/2024 at 7:31 PM, PTC DAWG said:

I’m not old enough, from what I’ve read…enjoy. 

Read again. Our friends’ 20 year old daughter, who has cruise on (at least) HAL, Princess, Royal and Celebrity said that HAL was her favorite. They have some interesting itineraries that the other 3 tend not to.
 

23 hours ago, Avidcruiser321 said:

So here is the update!  I did call to try the upgrade idea.  I asked to upgrade to Prime Aqua class (from our regular balcony) and the price difference was not big enough.  Prime Aqua in a suite was still less than we paid, so they couldn't do it as the price needs to be higher than what I paid.  So no go.  The next option up was to a big sky suite which was waaaay more.

 

So worth a try, but no luck.  Just goes to show the original point of the post is true - I got ripped off. 

 

And to all the Internet bosses who will now chime in to say I'm not allowed to feel that way - please save your breath.  I am allowed to feel however I want about it right now.  And I am sure I'll still have a nice time when the cruise comes along!

Did the customer service rep consult with the Resolutions department?  When the price on our cruise went down by a massive amount we were allowed to upgrade from a Magic Carpet suite to an Aqua Sky Suite, which was priced at less than what we paid. Then a few weeks later the coveted (by us, anyway) Sunset Sky Suites on the stern dropped to below what we’d paid and we were allowed to switch again. Both times I asked for the rep to speak with the Resolutions department - they have a script and zero leeway to deviate from the written policy, but Resolutions can do that if they are in the mood. Maybe I just got lucky twice but it can’t hurt to call again.

9 hours ago, miched said:

We recently did a MSC in Yacht Club, and the Retreat on Celebrity.   We booked 2 cruises on MSC and none on Celebrity.  We have 2 more already booked on Celebrity but when done we may not book anymore.    

 

On Celebrity we did not see any butlers.   The room attendant took their place.    In the past the butler would see you walking down the hall and would open your door.  See you carrying a drink and would carry it for you and insist on doing that.   We would normally ask for coffee in the morning to be delivered to the cabin.  It seemed to be more of a hassle and the one time we asked for it we felt as if we were annoying them.   MSC provided the service that Celebrity use to.  
 

Celebrity needs to up their game instead making more cuts with higher prices.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I assume you were booked one if the Sky Suite classes, which lost their butlers last fall. Apparently the fallout from that decision was bad enough that Celebrity are bringing them back to all classes of suites. They are doing it slowly but the Edge class have them and Solstice/Millenniun class should have them by June (they “should” have them sooner but have to find them).

[zitsky]

8 hours ago, critterchick said:

Read again. Our friends’ 20 year old daughter, who has cruise on (at least) HAL, Princess, Royal and Celebrity said that HAL was her favorite. They have some interesting itineraries that the other 3 tend not to.
 

Did the customer service rep consult with the Resolutions department?  When the price on our cruise went down by a massive amount we were allowed to upgrade from a Magic Carpet suite to an Aqua Sky Suite, which was priced at less than what we paid. Then a few weeks later the coveted (by us, anyway) Sunset Sky Suites on the stern dropped to below what we’d paid and we were allowed to switch again. Both times I asked for the rep to speak with the Resolutions department - they have a script and zero leeway to deviate from the written policy, but Resolutions can do that if they are in the mood. Maybe I just got lucky twice but it can’t hurt to call again.

I assume you were booked one if the Sky Suite classes, which lost their butlers last fall. Apparently the fallout from that decision was bad enough that Celebrity are bringing them back to all classes of suites. They are doing it slowly but the Edge class have them and Solstice/Millenniun class should have them by June (they “should” have them sooner but have to find them).

Those switches?  Did you book directly with Celebrity?

[kirtihk]

On 3/13/2024 at 10:29 AM, zitsky said:

Are there cruise lines that sell the same cruise at the same price without it going up or down?

Seadream

[mnocket]

On 3/13/2024 at 1:30 PM, gizmodog said:

So I bit the bullet and have changed over to another line. 3 more cruises have been booked on a different cruise line

Does this other cruise line offer low price protection even after final payment?

Edited March 15 by mnocket

[Lastdance]

Life is difficult, but it is also fun, educational, exciting...Celebrity finally returned almost all the money I was owed from canceling a Hawaii cruise(Edge) before the 90 days!  I was charged $200 for canceling on top of the NRD deposit, not to mention Celebrity said my airfare had been refunded when it wasn’t.  I call that adding insult to injury, but honestly, customer service is awful all over, not just the cruise industry.  My cruise price also went way down(thousands) from what I paid too, but since I can’t go, it just doesn’t matter.  I totally understand your frustration, but even trying to get money that was owed to me took 8 phone calls from my TA and myself, not to mention getting my credit card company involved.  Anyway, just be prepared that anything can happen and work through your frustrations.  I still have two cruises booked in the future with Celebrity, but my DH needs to stop having accidents, so I do not have to go through all this frustration, especially teaching new-hires to read their own cruise contracts. 

[paulh84]

1 hour ago, kirtihk said:

Seadream

 

If so what does this mean? https://seadream.com/voyages/special-offers

[Arizona Wildcat]

On 3/13/2024 at 7:31 PM, PTC DAWG said:

I’m not old enough, from what I’ve read…enjoy. 

Recently on a HAL cruise out of Amsterdam.   Average age was about 50.  Lots younger than our Celebrity cruise.  Am sure it varies, but our HAL cruise was 14 days and that usually means older cruisers.

[Orator]

The increase in stock prices combined with on board spending demonstrate that many  people enjoy being "ripped off". They would be fools to charge less than the market dictates and they most certainly aren't fools.

[truckswain]

On 3/13/2024 at 10:47 PM, Avidcruiser321 said:

So here is the update!  I did call to try the upgrade idea.  I asked to upgrade to Prime Aqua class (from our regular balcony) and the price difference was not big enough.  Prime Aqua in a suite was still less than we paid, so they couldn't do it as the price needs to be higher than what I paid.  So no go.  The next option up was to a big sky suite which was waaaay more.

 

So worth a try, but no luck.  Just goes to show the original point of the post is true - I got ripped off. 

 

And to all the Internet bosses who will now chime in to say I'm not allowed to feel that way - please save your breath.  I am allowed to feel however I want about it right now.  And I am sure I'll still have a nice time when the cruise comes along!

I missed when your last Celebrity cruise was that you are able to compare that the service is better on the other lines and "Celebrity has gone downhill"

[Liao]

35 minutes ago, Orator said:

The increase in stock prices combined with on board spending demonstrate that many  people enjoy being "ripped off". They would be fools to charge less than the market dictates and they most certainly aren't fools.

Exactly.  What is value or fair to me, may not be the same for others.  When I book my cruise (or any big purchase for that matter) I don't spend a lot of time second guessing myself or obsessing about it after.  I made the purchase so obviously I was comfortable with it when I did.  If the cost increases then I scored a deal, if it decreases, good on those that got it for a better deal, it is what it is.  If the price did decrease substantially and I was aware, I may call to see if I'm eligible but if I'm not, oh well.  The blame game people play is such a waste of time.  

[kirtihk]

1 hour ago, paulh84 said:

 

If so what does this mean? https://seadream.com/voyages/special-offers

It actually means the "normal" 50% (or more) reduced priced vs a full brochure price (like you may locate at almost all cruise lines' web sites).  The cruise lines never sell for that full price, but the "reduced price" appears so appealing prior to potential more discounted prices after the first sale date!

 

What's funny, I'm receiving promotion emails from Seadream every other day (typically, stating $500 additional price reduction for certain itineraries); however, in reality, an actual price stays the same when I check it out (a typical 7-day Caribbean is $3,999 regardless of what an email states about the $500 discount).