Identity crisis

[hcat]

3 hours ago, dleahy4444 said:

I think I was on the same sailing as you and totally agree with your comments! 

ASCENT 1/28.. awesome but yes loud. one show was too much and I forgot the earplugs  but we had a great time Overall!

[Lena11033]

4 hours ago, paulh84 said:

Celebrity is definitely trying hard to be the jack of all trades. They need to choose a direction and stick with it.  But every time they make a change the "loyalists", as they call themselves, don't agree with, they cause hysteria then Celebrity reverts. This is where the disconnect comes in between their marketing and what the actual product is on board. 

 

Their target market can be 40-55 year olds all day long. Where they fail is realizing that 40 year old me is a very different customer than my parents were at 40. But as long as they continue to pander the 65, 70, 80+ crowd they will have a tough time bringing in a new crop of repeat younger new customers. 

 

We're fine with it largely because we know what to expect but I'm curious how many of the recent new Celebrity customers actually come back.

 

I agree with this, I am 43 this year and really enjoy E class. The millennium ones I've done and probably won't do again, so its going to depend on the ship if people come back I think, if I had done M class first I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much (Beyond was my first cruise). Next 3 cruises I have with Celebrity are all E class - I may at some point try S but would depend on itinerary.

 

I think the yo-yoing to try and appease people is a huge problem. Some of the things I get business wise but others it's a problem and bad planning, they loose customers and then back track and by that point its too late. They need someone doing better business research before making changes. But not everyone is going to be happy, specific people want the older ships while others want newer ones.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

20 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I agree with this, I am 43 this year and really enjoy E class. The millennium ones I've done and probably won't do again, so its going to depend on the ship if people come back I think, if I had done M class first I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much (Beyond was my first cruise). Next 3 cruises I have with Celebrity are all E class - I may at some point try S but would depend on itinerary.

 

I think the yo-yoing to try and appease people is a huge problem. Some of the things I get business wise but others it's a problem and bad planning, they loose customers and then back track and by that point its too late. They need someone doing better business research before making changes. But not everyone is going to be happy, specific people want the older ships while others want newer ones.

 

52 here and I love the E-Class. I did love the Summit...though a lot of that was being in Aqua (and Blu). My next cruise is Beyond this summer. I've currently got Feb 2026 on Silhouette, but I may well change that to either Beyond or Apex.

[doghog]

We're both well into our 70's and like and have sailed on all three of Celebrity class of ships. 

[paulh84]

23 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I agree with this, I am 43 this year and really enjoy E class. The millennium ones I've done and probably won't do again, so its going to depend on the ship if people come back I think, if I had done M class first I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much (Beyond was my first cruise). Next 3 cruises I have with Celebrity are all E class - I may at some point try S but would depend on itinerary.

 

I think the yo-yoing to try and appease people is a huge problem. Some of the things I get business wise but others it's a problem and bad planning, they loose customers and then back track and by that point its too late. They need someone doing better business research before making changes. But not everyone is going to be happy, specific people want the older ships while others want newer ones.

 

We've been Retreat cruisers more often than not lately and still have two booked. But after all of the yo-yo changes to suites on our recent Ascent cruise (which really was mostly great) we decided to shift gears and try the 298 passenger the Ritz Carlton Evrima next winter. We did book the cheap seats but it's priced similarly to a Celebrity Suite on a E Class. Maybe RC will not live up to my hopes. Maybe it will. But I can't convince myself to spend that kind of money on Celebrity right now. 

[Lena11033]

18 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

52 here and I love the E-Class. I did love the Summit...though a lot of that was being in Aqua (and Blu). My next cruise is Beyond this summer. I've currently got Feb 2026 on Silhouette, but I may well change that to either Beyond or Apex.

 

I think my issue with summit was more to do with it being a partial charter, I did like the aesthetics better here as it was updated. But yeah I felt like regular passengers were an after thought because it was all about the chartered passengers who were completely wasted and rude

[Lena11033]

14 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

 

We've been Retreat cruisers more often than not lately and still have two booked. But after all of the yo-yo changes to suites on our recent Ascent cruise (which really was mostly great) we decided to shift gears and try the 298 passenger the Ritz Carlton Evrima next winter. We did book the cheap seats but it's priced similarly to a Celebrity Suite on a E Class. Maybe RC will not live up to my hopes. Maybe it will. But I can't convince myself to spend that kind of money on Celebrity right now. 

 

Ah they are out of my price range - especially as a solo traveler I get nailed on pricing.

Unless Celebrity changes their retreat pricings I'll be in regular verandas. Last time I checked a retreat price they added an extra $5,000 for me being solo

[PTC DAWG]

18 hours ago, hcat said:

We like E Class ...as seniors we miss out on some of the late night stuff but are happy as it is.    A ship can appeal to more than one type of cruiser..teens, couples, singles etc. 

 

 

The key is a  Modern Luxury experience,  rather than pigeon- holing guests. Great food, service and entertainment are what we look for..

 

Example..

on ASCENT during one day, the  younger cruisers seemed to enjoy the outdoor pool, loud music and beach party vibe.  At the same time, a diff crowd was SRO around the Grand Plaza area enjoying a top notch show with a Bllly Joel tribute singer..

 

No one was unhappy!

This 60 year old would have been at the pool…

 

I agree with you, choices are good and it’s one of the things I like about cruising on ships with these options.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

4 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I think my issue with summit was more to do with it being a partial charter, I did like the aesthetics better here as it was updated. But yeah I felt like regular passengers were an after thought because it was all about the chartered passengers who were completely wasted and rude

You think that might be reason you did care for it 🤣

it is like going a 3 day Caribbean cruise and doing a 14 day transatlantic cruise , 

completely different vibe 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

6 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I think my issue with summit was more to do with it being a partial charter, I did like the aesthetics better here as it was updated. But yeah I felt like regular passengers were an after thought because it was all about the chartered passengers who were completely wasted and rude

Yeah, I imagine that would make a difference. No partial charters on mine.

[NutsAboutGolf]

In their advertisements, they do have younger couples, yet does that translate to exclusive advertising to young adults?  Probably just looks better overall showing younger attractive couples at the spa than it does showing seniors playing pickleball

[NMTraveller]

8 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

In their advertisements, they do have younger couples, yet does that translate to exclusive advertising to young adults?  Probably just looks better overall showing younger attractive couples at the spa than it does showing seniors playing pickleball

E class is for younger adults.  Who else could believe that a sunroom is a balcony 🤣

[NutsAboutGolf]

6 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

E class is for younger adults.  Who else could believe that a sunroom is a balcony 🤣

 

Just wanted to point out that for the average first cruiser, they probably wouldn't know the E-Class generally has a slightly lower average age than a S/M Class.  Most pick a timeframe and then an itinerary including the embarkation/Disembarkation port(s)

 

I'll also point out I have seen the evolution of DJs paying top 40 (from the past couple decades) even on the S/M class

[Lena11033]

22 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

In their advertisements, they do have younger couples, yet does that translate to exclusive advertising to young adults?  Probably just looks better overall showing younger attractive couples at the spa than it does showing seniors playing pickleball

 

I work in advertising, I would say a bit of both.

 

I think they need a better marketing person they are trying to generalize all ships and its not going to work as different classes have different experiences. 

Here's the main issue they've bucketed ages, yes can work but you need to look at interests which works better because even when I was in my 20's I wasn't like other 20 year olds.

 

They need to advertise the experience based on interests. It seems clear that some itineraries / crews etc are different. 

[cruzzzinma]

58 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

Last time I checked a retreat price they added an extra $5,000 for me being solo

 

Off topic but I just booked a back to back for this Fall on Azamara with 150% solo rates. Selected cruises had lower solo rates.

[Giraffes]

26 minutes ago, cruzzzinma said:

 

Off topic but I just booked a back to back for this Fall on Azamara with 150% solo rates. Selected cruises had lower solo rates.

You might want to post that here:

Post CRUISE LINE Single Supplement/Solo Bargains HERE https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2311180-post-cruise-line-single-supplementsolo-bargains-here/

[NutsAboutGolf]

24 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I work in advertising, I would say a bit of both.

 

I think they need a better marketing person they are trying to generalize all ships and its not going to work as different classes have different experiences. 

Here's the main issue they've bucketed ages, yes can work but you need to look at interests which works better because even when I was in my 20's I wasn't like other 20 year olds.

 

They need to advertise the experience based on interests. It seems clear that some itineraries / crews etc are different. 

 

Makes sense.  Seems like they're trying to project a moving land resort which is a stretch.  Both have their pros and cons yet my number one gripe with cruises is the congestion; usually, lines everywhere and the MDR has its tables on top of each other

[C 2 C]

20 hours ago, kruzerci said:

I Premium but not, young but not, old but not HAL, etc. 

We found the crowd on our recent Constellation sailing out of Tampa much older than our HAL cruises.  The parking lot in the dining room was overflowing with scooters.  I'm just glad that golf carts are not allowed.  Having said that, I'm glad that my parents gave me the genes to postpone that necessity at my age.  (old)

[D. B.]

48 minutes ago, cruzzzinma said:

 

Off topic but I just booked a back to back for this Fall on Azamara with 150% solo rates. Selected cruises had lower solo rates.

Thats because Azamara  needs all the guests it can get to fill it's Old ships.

[doghog]

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Yeah, I imagine that would make a difference. No partial charters on mine.

Agree. Can't compare chartered cruises or partial to full non-chartered cruises. Way different vibe. We would never book a chartered or partial chartered cruise.  

[Lena11033]

1 minute ago, doghog said:

Agree. Can't compare chartered cruises or partial to full non-chartered cruises. Way different vibe. We would never book a chartered or partial chartered cruise.  

 

Oh I agree, unfortunately when I booked I didn't know about is, nor was it informed that this would be a partial charter going forward I would never book less than a week and now I know how to check.

 

But imagine if that was your first experience, it would be really bad

[doghog]

2 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

Oh I agree, unfortunately when I booked I didn't know about is, nor was it informed that this would be a partial charter going forward I would never book less than a week and now I know how to check.

 

But imagine if that was your first experience, it would be really bad

Agree 100%. We booked a Celebrity cruise years ago and found out later it turned into a partial chartered cruise. Called Celebrity, advised them that wasn't the cruise we originally booked, not happy with the change and the type of charter. We were allow to cancel and rebooked another cruise. Originally booked with a nonrefundable fare but didn't get charged a penalty for the change. I guess we were lucky. Not sure that would be the case today. 

[Lastdance]

20 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Got a younger feel in the Caribbean.   On a recent TA the vibe was 60s and cruisers were 70ish.

 

For me, it was the complete opposite of this; never will my DH and I cruise the Caribbean again.  

We want the total E-class experience overseas, full of culture, history, different nationalities and   a variety of experiences.  Both of us are in our 70’s, so not spring chickens by any means.  No float the boat for us at this point of our lives, just keep on moving and enjoying life to the fullest!  Seize the day your way!

[zitsky]

Can’t a cruise line attract different ages?  People say “I want newer music!”  Could someone define “newer music” for me?  Because I listen to Bach, Frank Sinatra, Billy Idol and Barbra Streisand and I didn’t hear any of that on my last cruise.  If I hear 70s music I’ll stab myself in the eye.

Edited March 23 by zitsky

[d9704011]

Just now, zitsky said:

Can’t a cruise line attract different ages?  People say “I want newer music!”  Could someone define “newer music” for me?  Because I listen to Bach, Frank Sinatra, Billy Idol and Barbra Streisand and I didn’t hear any of that on my last cruise.

An eclectic mix and not really disco ready.