Harbinger of Things to Come?

[markeb]

5 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

As @NutsAboutGolf said  They are surely passing the engineering, building, and maintenance costs onto us

Sure. But for them it’s part of their unique value proposition. People book the ships for those features. They’re doing just fine and have been. 

[the penguins]

18 hours ago, canderson said:

I've read and re-read Bethge's response to @johhnnyt's question asking about future features on Xcel.  I can't say I'm at all encouraged by the response:

 

"While we can’t reveal just yet the new features on Celebrity Xcel, we can tell you it will have 7 new experiences and will blur the lines between ship and shore like never before with newly imagined spaces. We look forward to sharing more later this year, stay tuned!" [emphasis mine]

 

There's an assumption packed into that reply that blurring the lines between ship and shore is a positive direction for the Celebrity brand.  While it remains to be seen in which areas this 'blur' will take place on this future Celebrity ship, we've all seen the results on Royal's latest offering, the Icon of the Seas (aka Six Flags over Mariana Trench) has brought a bit more of the land to the sea than the vast majority of Celebrity passengers would like in a cruise ship.  Are Celebrity passengers really looking for "7 new experiences" that help us forget that we're shipboard and make the cruise feel more like we're taking a land vacation at a resort?  I would think that to differentiate the experience and draw customers away from land vacations, one would create new and interesting, but uniquely water voyage / cruise / ship based experiences and activities that further differentiate the two. 

 

I'll withhold judgment until the actual features/experiences are announced, but the answer provided is vague enough now to promote an uncomfortable feeling with the direction of this new ship based upon recent build history at RCCL.

 

 

Basically what every cruise line says about every new ship until it's actually launched. 

[hcat]

7 hours ago, omahabob said:

Would love the zip lines and water slides. Wouldn't do the flo rider, but watching others do it (or try) is great entertainment. I haven't booked an Oasis class cruise because it can't go to some of the smaller ports I'd like to visit. There's pros and cons to every line and every ship.

Our son in law did those activities..  We had to pre book  the diving  and ice show, yet had lines to access them and long waits for the actual event.  As I posted elsewhere..the divers on our cruise were not very good ( difficult on a ship)  and the ice show was not the same caliber as  the ones we can see at home!    But fun for the kids!

 

Shows on E Class ships far surpass  other X ships and Royal C.. Recently we  enjoyed music in EDEN, Martini Bar  concerts, and the Club..so many choices! BUT X is lacking a good island band in the Carib.. which they had on Oasis  

 

Oasis did have a very efficient embark and disembark system..esp for such a large vessel. X could learn there!

 

Bottom line ..keep the two lines how they are..no further blending!

[DaKahuna]

12 hours ago, omahabob said:

The Oasis class is extremely popular, and there's every reason to believe it would appeal to many Celebrity cruisers too.

 

 That is great news.  I only hope that those Celebrity cruiseers that the Oasis class appeals to go sail on the Royal Caribbean Oasis class  ships instead of trying to duplicate those behemoth's within the Celebrity family.   I thought that was the whole purpose behind the latest status match program -- give people 'similar' benefits no matter which cruise line they were on.  

 

 So if you want entertainment, games, rock climbing walls, etc..  Go with RCCL.  If you want peace, quiet, and tranquality, etc.. go with Celebrity.  Or at least I hope that is the goal, otherwise you will find us on another cruise line. 

 

[Tom and Ingrid]

18 hours ago, markeb said:

I "believe" they had Alaska Amber beer (which you can get anywhere).

Interesting.  I haven't seen Alaskan Amber locally.  I might have to re-peruse the Total Beverage "A" section!

[Tom and Ingrid]

31 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 That is great news.  I only hope that those Celebrity cruiseers that the Oasis class appeals to go sail on the Royal Caribbean Oasis class  ships instead of trying to duplicate those behemoth's within the Celebrity family.   I thought that was the whole purpose behind the latest status match program -- give people 'similar' benefits no matter which cruise line they were on.  

 

 So if you want entertainment, games, rock climbing walls, etc..  Go with RCCL.  If you want peace, quiet, and tranquality, etc.. go with Celebrity.  Or at least I hope that is the goal, otherwise you will find us on another cruise line. 

 

My thinking too.  If you want Oasis-esque, choose the Oasis or its sister ships. Hopefully Celebrity improves around the edges and focuses on its core strengths, and does not change so radically that it alienates what had been its more loyal guests.  

[TeeRick]

Why make assumptions and be negative and cynical about Xcel until we find out the details?  I know its fun for some here.

[conquesodor]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Why make assumptions and be negative and cynical about Xcel until we find out the details?  I know its fun for some here.

Exactly, it's less fun to keep an open mind.

[D. B.]

On 7/18/2024 at 11:44 AM, canderson said:

When you replied to my first post, you wouldn't have had a chance to read my later one that says "One would think that a cruise line would see the benefit of putting their creative minds to the task of finding some new concepts that were related to the uniquely shipboard experience.  Have they really run out of ideas?"

 

If, in the future, there's little product differentiation, these novice cruisers, who won't be novices forever, will have more reason to reevaluate the value proposition of sea vs. resort vacations. 

 

The only reason cruise lines can compete at all is because their payroll is kept well below shoreside wages for any 'developed' country.  The rest of their operational and logistics costs for operating a moving, floating resort will inevitably be higher.

In a resort and on A cruise ship you get to sleep in the same Bed every night and Unpack once.

but on a Cruise you get to experience different Places!

That is A Big Difference.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

3 minutes ago, D. B. said:

In a resort and on A cruise ship you get to sleep in the same Bed every night and Unpack once.

but on a Cruise you get to experience different Places!

That is A Big Difference.

Are that different when you are cruising the Caribbean?🤔

They appear to be same in the couple of Caribbean ports we have seen

 

[D. B.]

4 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Are that different when you are cruising the Caribbean?🤔

They appear to be same in the couple of Caribbean ports we have seen

 

True but you can go to different places on those Islands than what you are limited to at a resort.

[canderson]

19 minutes ago, D. B. said:

True but you can go to different places on those Islands than what you are limited to at a resort.

Sounds like your resorts have armed guards ... keeping you in!  Ours don't.  We've done plenty of touring around while using a resort as base camp.

[D. B.]

5 minutes ago, canderson said:

Sounds like your resorts have armed guards ... keeping you in!  Ours don't.  We've done plenty of touring around while using a resort as base camp.

I like waking up in a different place so Resorts are not for me.

Nice that we have options to choose from.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

25 minutes ago, D. B. said:

True but you can go to different places on those Islands than what you are limited to at a resort.

🤔

That is the same for a resort ,

you know you can leave the resort

you can explore the whole country when you are a resort , they usually have rental car agent there , and there always taxis around to hire 

 

[zitsky]

I would like more local themed lectures, art, history etc.  Real Broadway shows would be nice, but shows are good already.  Bigger pools would be nice especially in the Retreat.  The main pool and Solarium are big already.  Maybe they could move the Retreat Deck and give back the forward lounge.

 

 

Edited July 20 by zitsky

[NMTraveller]

13 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Why make assumptions and be negative and cynical about Xcel until we find out the details?  I know its fun for some here.

Perhaps if E class was not a downgrade we would be more positive.  

[NMTraveller]

On a more positive note Celebrity is not going to put all IVs in on their next class of ships.  A big win for most.

[sofietucker]

Reduced Shakespeare! I would love, love, love to see them on board. Fast-paced silliness. Or PMJ, Post Modern Jazz troupe that also mixes silliness with great talent ("I Want A Hippo for Xmas" done torch style, etc.) I know X have already cadged some elements of Cirque du Soleil--the acrobats and magicians--but again, a short version of one of their complete productions would go down well for me.

And I'd go for some much more in-depth educational stuff--lectures with visual and music on say, how voodoo/Voudon developed in Haiti and spread in the islands. Or different traditions of Carnival in Trinidad and elsewhere. Or calypso music: Did you know Maya Angelou used to be a Caribbean singer? As did Louis Farrakhan, aka the Charmer??  "Rum and Coca Cola" as done by USO girls in the 1960s? All kinds of cool stuff to learn and be entertained by...

Edited July 20 by sofietucker