Celebrity at it again, I guess the new CEO can’t seem to tell the truth!

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

But that’s not what they’re doing. They’ve set a market value where the cabin generates the same revenue regardless of occupancy. And apparently people are paying it or they’d price it differently. It would be nice and better optics if they’d find that revenue elsewhere, but if people (not you, clearly) pay, why would they?

Exactly

[Liao]

2 hours ago, pzsdd6 said:

Well thank you for the startling insight into the cruise industry. I’m glad you have a method to decide which cruise to take, but that’s not what this thread is about. It’s about a less than fair discrimination against solo travelers. They were called out for it, and when confronted with the facts , the CEO or president, whatever you want to call her,  said this was wrong and would stop the practice! They did not stop it and continue to discriminate………she lied! Period!

And you seem to think that only responses that agree with you 100% are relevant.

[pzsdd6]

26 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I would head back out the same door I came in.

Lol, so would I, but just like being on here, I would swing by the managers office and let them know what they are doing is wrong as well. 

[pzsdd6]

As the OP, I wanted to say thanks to all who have contributed to this thread. I know, as most of you know, that what is said here will have little effect on issue, nor will it correct what is wrong, but we have to start somewhere, and by someone. Not everyone will agree with what has been posted, but by the responses, I would say most agree with one thing, and that is the process and discrimination against solo travelers is wrong! 

[TGfromTX]

On 6/8/2024 at 8:45 AM, pzsdd6 said:

...the last webinar with the new CEO, this was brought up and she was adamant that this would stop, she even agreed it was wrong!

Is there a recording online anywhere?  I couldn't locate a replay.

[drakes2]

1 minute ago, TGfromTX said:

Is there a recording online anywhere?  I couldn't locate a replay.

She can agree all she wants; its just not going to happen anytime soon..... if ever. 

[pzsdd6]

11 minutes ago, Liao said:

And you seem to think that only responses that agree with you 100% are relevant.

Where did I post that? Where have I said that posts that I don’t agree with are not relavant? The only mention I have made about relevancy, was to keep responses focused on what this thread was about.

[kirtihk]

2 hours ago, iandjm said:

You make some very good points however what celebrity’s expecting some single traveler's to do is the equivalent of going out for dinner on your own and being asked to pay 3 times for the one meal.
We all reluctantly accept paying for an imaginary person is part of having a solo cabin to ourself, of course with that we are also paying for the imaginary persons food and all other items we get included as part of the price. But to be asked to pay above the 100% cabin price is just wrong. It’s as unacceptable as an airline charging a solo traveler for 2 seats not just the one. 
we all have a choice of which cruise line we go with and as you say we do not have to pay the silly prices, but that does not excuse this immorally wrong practice. 

Airlines don't do that, because they can sell the second seat versus cruise lines that cannot sell the second bed in the same cabin to a person who is a stranger to a person who bought the first bed in that cabin.

[TGfromTX]

1 minute ago, drakes2 said:

She can agree all she wants; its just not going to happen anytime soon..... if ever. 

I'd like to see her response to see if she is just pacifying or if she truly agrees. 

I don't even know how people are finding the solo cabins that are available.  The RCL lines have one of the worst websites (shared format) for locating them.  I had to go 5 levels deep into a booking to see if the cabins are available or not.  And a room is very rarely available from my recent searches. I called the celebrity agents and they can't find them without going through the same tedious process.  Eventually they just say there are none to get me off the phone.  These cruise lines aren't ready to deal with solo bookings in either case.  NCLs booking process isn't perfect, but it's decades ahead of Celebrity.  In either case, I think MSC and NCL are the only 2 I'd consider traveling solo on.

I think I've seen that you cruise solo on Celebrity some.  Is it because you have enough points to get better rates? or what? It's possible there are better rates posted I just haven't seen - but it always come up at 99% extra (or more).

[PTC DAWG]

Obviously, on average, two people roaming the ship spend more than 1 person..it is really that simple..I get it if you don’t like it, but they have ran the numbers for sure. 

Edited June 13 by PTC DAWG

[TGfromTX]

2 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Obviously, on average, two people roaming the ship spend more than 1 person..it is really that simple..I get it if you don’t like it, but they have ran the numbers for sure. 

If it were that simple, obviously, they wouldn't be building solo cabins & NCL would be out of business.  I don't think they are intentionally pushing the numbers - I think demand and automation is.  

[Lena11033]

7 minutes ago, TGfromTX said:

NCLs booking process isn't perfect, but it's decades ahead of Celebrity.  In either case, I think MSC and NCL are the only 2 I'd consider traveling solo on

 

My NCL room (non solo room because the solo room was terrible) is the same price as Celebrity's for the same route at the same time.

Also MSC doesn't always allow solo bookings. I've had better luck booking on Celebrity's website for 1 passenger, sometimes when you put in what you want on MSC they say no rooms because they don't want to sell to 1 person.

 

None of them are perfect - you need to shop around different lines to find the best deal.

[PTC DAWG]

25 minutes ago, TGfromTX said:

If it were that simple, obviously, they wouldn't be building solo cabins & NCL would be out of business.  I don't think they are intentionally pushing the numbers - I think demand and automation is.  

Aren’t most of those tiny interior cabins?  A small percentage of the ship I’m sure..but they are different cruise lines, I don’t expect them all to operate exactly alike. 

[Lena11033]

3 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

Aren’t most of those tiny interior cabins?  A small percentage of the ship I’m sure..but they are different cruise lines, I don’t expect them all to operate exactly alike. 

 

When I booked with NCL the 'solo' room was a interior room with a 'virtual window' - sorry TV doesn't cut it for a window for me.

I don't know if it's changed but I did my booking last year and that's what they tried to sell me as a good solo room. 

[PTC DAWG]

3 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

When I booked with NCL the 'solo' room was a interior room with a 'virtual window' - sorry TV doesn't cut it for a window for me.

I don't know if it's changed but I did my booking last year and that's what they tried to sell me as a good solo room. 

I’ve seen you tube videos of them, not for me either, but I could the appeal to some, separate entrance to the area and a small solos lounge area..

[Lena11033]

1 minute ago, PTC DAWG said:

I’ve seen you tube videos of them, not for me either, but I could the appeal to some, separate entrance to the area and a small solos lounge area..

 

Yep I guess it depends on your taste, too claustrophobic for me - lounge may have appealed for a cruise where I'd be on the ship more but it was port intensive so I'd not visit.

 

That's why I look around, see what I prefer and then book. While I don't spend hours in my room I also don't want an interior room either. Example, last cruise I was sick for the last day so I stayed in my room at least I was able to get fresh air which I wouldn't with those rooms.

[lizinindy]

I'm curious as to why the price is double on some cruises and more than double on other cruises. Since Celebrity's IT dept. isn't exactly tip top, could it possibly just be an IT glitch that's setting the price incorrectly? I can't figure a scenario where the revenue algorithm selects certain "ships?" or "itineraries?" that would trigger a more than double rate. Just a crazy thought...but we know that IT dept. is kinda wacko!

[markeb]

3 minutes ago, lizinindy said:

I'm curious as to why the price is double on some cruises and more than double on other cruises. Since Celebrity's IT dept. isn't exactly tip top, could it possibly just be an IT glitch that's setting the price incorrectly? I can't figure a scenario where the revenue algorithm selects certain "ships?" or "itineraries?" that would trigger a more than double rate. Just a crazy thought...but we know that IT dept. is kinda wacko!

 

Have you bought concert tickets with dynamic pricing lately? The algorithms are pretty amazing. And the prices are pretty wacko. But people pay them.

 

If a cruise is in demand and the analytics say it should sell out at let's say 110% occupancy, then that cruise is going to demand a  higher rate for a single cabin than another cruise that's looking at 95-98% occupancy. And yes, the analytics are almost certainly that good.

[C-Dragons]

2 minutes ago, lizinindy said:

I'm curious as to why the price is double on some cruises and more than double on other cruises. Since Celebrity's IT dept. isn't exactly tip top, could it possibly just be an IT glitch that's setting the price incorrectly? I can't figure a scenario where the revenue algorithm selects certain "ships?" or "itineraries?" that would trigger a more than double rate. Just a crazy thought...but we know that IT dept. is kinda wacko!

Simple answer, supply and demand.

The more cabins are booked, the higher the price will go for the remaining available cabins.

[markeb]

6 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Simple answer, supply and demand.

The more cabins are booked, the higher the price will go for the remaining available cabins.

 

I suspect it's far more complicated than that, but that's part of it. With concert tickets, the price has as much to do with the rate of sales (apparently; the model is proprietary) as the number of sales. I've picked up Springsteen tickets for rescheduled shows from last year at much better prices than when they were originally released. Most of the seats were sold, so there wasn't a crazy demand (yet) when I bought them. FOMO drives the algorithm...

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, TGfromTX said:

I think I've seen that you cruise solo on Celebrity some. 

I've sailed both Celebrity and Princess as a solo occupant. Some cruises my sister goes with me and has a cabin next door.  On many cruises I've had a resident rate which provides a fairly large saving. With my Elite plus status I never purchase alcohol, water or coffee as I take advantage of this as part of my benefits. In addition I get a couple bottles of wine gifted to my by my CVP.  The cruise I booked for October is for a non obstructed verandah cabin on the Eclipse at a price I thought was excellent. The TA for next April 2025 on the Ascent was also a great price but being a new ship I opted for a deluxe inside cabin. The IV's were overpriced and  not a fan of them especially crossing the Atlantic. If I need fresh air there's plenty of opportunities to get some by the pool where I spend my sea days. 

[Baron Barracuda]

Apparently there's screwy pricing across the Royal family.  DB recently booked a sailing on sister line Royal for his family of 5.  Wanted a double for himself and dw and a triple for his 3 kids.  Discovered triples were outrageously priced so saved hundreds by booking a quad and a solo (100% single supplement).  So now his dw gets a cabin by herself (well, technically) plus double C&A points.

Edited June 13 by Baron Barracuda

[TGfromTX]

18 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

My NCL room (non solo room because the solo room was terrible) is the same price as Celebrity's for the same route at the same time.

Also MSC doesn't always allow solo bookings. I've had better luck booking on Celebrity's website for 1 passenger, sometimes when you put in what you want on MSC they say no rooms because they don't want to sell to 1 person.

 

None of them are perfect - you need to shop around different lines to find the best deal.

I've only been searching solo cruises recently, so my impressions must not be accurate.  I was mainly researching to know if the onboard offer for future cruises might be worth buying - I don't think I found any Celebrity & RC itineraries with low supplements. But I agree - the rooms on NCL are really small.

[miched]

I just did another mock booking for the exciting deals.   75% off of 2nd guest.    Did one for a SS with 2 passengers and the same cabin for only one passenger.   Amazing that the price for one was less than double. 

Maybe they corrected their algorithm.  

I also added the gratuities.  The cost for 2 is double than one.   I would think that for one it would be more than 1/2  for  additional  amount for the attendant because  cleaning a cabin for one is the same as it is for 2.   As the bed is still made up, the lav has to be cleaned and etc 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸

 

 

Edited June 13 by miched

[Ommadawn]

8 hours ago, kirtihk said:

Airlines don't do that, because they can sell the second seat versus cruise lines that cannot sell the second bed in the same cabin to a person who is a stranger to a person who bought the first bed in that cabin.

 

That would make an interesting app, one that put two solo travelers together in the same cabin with separate beds (hopefully of the same gender).