a350flyer Posted July 18 #1 Share Posted July 18 Noticed that Celebrity Cruises lost its title as Travel + Leisure’s #1 mega-ship ocean liner in 2023 and 2024 to Virgin Voyages. Discerning readers of T+L now have a new favorite cruise line. While Celebrity Cruises did win the #1 title in the 2023 Travel Weekly awards (Premium Cruise Line/Europe), it should be noted that this publication predominantly targets travel industry professionals, rather than the paying customers who ultimately choose and experience cruises. This discrepancy raises a significant question: What strategic steps should Celebrity take to regain its #1 position among the mega-ship ocean liners from the perspective of the end consumer? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wahlct Posted July 18 #2 Share Posted July 18 We took our first VV cruise a couple of months ago, and the differences are drastic. We mainly wanted to take the cruise as it's adult only. IMO, VV beats Celebrity in: 1. Food. All of VV's restaurants are included, and the quality is at least as good as X specialty restaurants. 2. Entertainment. More adult oriented and more varied. For me, X has gotten stale, and the quality/$ is dropping. Food quality and service has dropped while prices have gone up substantially. All of the X ships have basically the same restaurants with the same menus for years. The menu in Tuscany is the same as when I first dined there in 2011. To answer your question, they need to get back to what set them apart originally. More "luxury". Stop nickel-diming me on everything like all the other lines. Stop taking away service. Bring back the sea day brunch buffet. Bring the food back to where it was. In the past 2 years, we've been on 4 lines, and X ranked 3rd for us, behind Azamara and VV, even though it was the most expensive. 18 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a350flyer Posted July 18 Author #3 Share Posted July 18 35 minutes ago, wahlct said: We took our first VV cruise a couple of months ago, and the differences are drastic. We mainly wanted to take the cruise as it's adult only. IMO, VV beats Celebrity in: 1. Food. All of VV's restaurants are included, and the quality is at least as good as X specialty restaurants. 2. Entertainment. More adult oriented and more varied. For me, X has gotten stale, and the quality/$ is dropping. Food quality and service has dropped while prices have gone up substantially. All of the X ships have basically the same restaurants with the same menus for years. The menu in Tuscany is the same as when I first dined there in 2011. To answer your question, they need to get back to what set them apart originally. More "luxury". Stop nickel-diming me on everything like all the other lines. Stop taking away service. Bring back the sea day brunch buffet. Bring the food back to where it was. In the past 2 years, we've been on 4 lines, and X ranked 3rd for us, behind Azamara and VV, even though it was the most expensive. I concur, especially after enjoying my first VV cruise. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LB_NJ Posted July 18 #4 Share Posted July 18 Agree, stop nickel and diming, bring food quality back up. More pay for experiences won’t help. Fyi, Oceania includes specialty restaurants and all soft drinks/coffee. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liao Posted July 18 #5 Share Posted July 18 39 minutes ago, a350flyer said: I concur, especially after enjoying my first VV cruise. I just canceled my March 2025 TA on Eclipse and booked a May 2025 on VV. 3 nights longer and a couple thousand $ less, I am pretty excited. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbenboys Posted July 18 #6 Share Posted July 18 26 minutes ago, Liao said: I just canceled my March 2025 TA on Eclipse and booked a May 2025 on VV. 3 nights longer and a couple thousand $ less, I am pretty excited. I just looked at VV 5/2026 LA to Vancouver BC 8 nights. Cheeky Corner Suite: Pretty Big Terrace is about $10,000 without drink packages. I just booked Summit today for 5/2025 in a Sky Suite for 6 nights for about $5,000 with PDP an a $500 deposit. Same cruise Celebrity Royal Suite is about $10,000. VV wants about $2000 now for a cruise leaving 5/2026. I'm was trying to find a VV Seriously Suite or Brilliant Suite to compare Celebrity SS, but not luck so far. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liao Posted July 18 #7 Share Posted July 18 53 minutes ago, bigbenboys said: I just looked at VV 5/2026 LA to Vancouver BC 8 nights. Cheeky Corner Suite: Pretty Big Terrace is about $10,000 without drink packages. I just booked Summit today for 5/2025 in a Sky Suite for 6 nights for about $5,000 with PDP an a $500 deposit. Same cruise Celebrity Royal Suite is about $10,000. VV wants about $2000 now for a cruise leaving 5/2026. I'm was trying to find a VV Seriously Suite or Brilliant Suite to compare Celebrity SS, but not luck so far. I am in XL Sea Terrace and I do not drink alcohol and figure WTH am I paying all that extra $$ when I will only use it for premium coffee drinks and sparkling water. I also love the fact that any tipping is highly discouraged and all restaurants are included on VV. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfred Posted July 18 #8 Share Posted July 18 all this really means is that a non scientific poll of people who may or may not be T&L readers voted (maybe multiple times) in a poll VV is completely different market and X isnt going to chase them down 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare PTC DAWG Posted July 18 #9 Share Posted July 18 16 minutes ago, tfred said: VV is completely different market and X isnt going to chase them down Agreed, I dont see them as an option at all 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a350flyer Posted July 18 Author #10 Share Posted July 18 22 minutes ago, tfred said: all this really means is that a non scientific poll of people who may or may not be T&L readers voted (maybe multiple times) in a poll VV is completely different market and X isnt going to chase them down Controls appear to be in place to ensure the integrity of the survey. https://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best/survey-methodology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicpersona Posted July 18 #11 Share Posted July 18 4 hours ago, a350flyer said: Travel + Leisure’s #1 mega-ship ocean liner in 2023 and 2024 to Virgin Voyages This had me puzzled for a minute. Neither Celebrity nor Virgin Voyages have any ocean liners in their fleets. The article is about ocean cruise lines. Very different. Our Readers’ Favorite Mega-ship Ocean Cruise Lines of 2024 (travelandleisure.com) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a350flyer Posted July 18 Author #12 Share Posted July 18 1 minute ago, publicpersona said: This had me puzzled for a minute. Neither Celebrity nor Virgin Voyages have any ocean liners in their fleets. The article is about ocean cruise lines. Very different. Our Readers’ Favorite Mega-ship Ocean Cruise Lines of 2024 (travelandleisure.com) It doesn’t appear that the article is on ocean liners. Ocean lines appears to be mentioned to differentiate between a river cruise, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicpersona Posted July 18 #13 Share Posted July 18 1 minute ago, a350flyer said: It doesn’t appear that the article is on ocean liners. Ocean lines appears to be mentioned to differentiate between a river cruise, etc. I know. You had a typo in your post that puzzled me for a minute. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judyrem Posted July 18 #14 Share Posted July 18 2 hours ago, tfred said: all this really means is that a non scientific poll of people who may or may not be T&L readers voted (maybe multiple times) in a poll VV is completely different market and X isnt going to chase them down Agree, I would not feel comfortable being a solo older woman on VV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DaKahuna Posted July 18 #15 Share Posted July 18 4 minutes ago, Judyrem said: Agree, I would not feel comfortable being a solo older woman on VV. On the MSC boards right now, @Essiesmom is doing that right now and she appears to be having a very good cruise. Here is a link to her live review. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liao Posted July 19 #16 Share Posted July 19 42 minutes ago, DaKahuna said: On the MSC boards right now, @Essiesmom is doing that right now and she appears to be having a very good cruise. Here is a link to her live review. I have been following her over there, she does seem to be having a lot of fun. Her pics are awesome. I think she said she is 80 and has been going to the solo meetups and met many who she's dined with or spends a bit of time with during the day. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judyrem Posted July 19 #17 Share Posted July 19 10 minutes ago, Liao said: I have been following her over there, she does seem to be having a lot of fun. Her pics are awesome. I think she said she is 80 and has been going to the solo meetups and met many who she's dined with or spends a bit of time with during the day. If she is 80 that is amazing, I want to be her!😉 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liao Posted July 19 #18 Share Posted July 19 Just now, Judyrem said: If she is 80 that is amazing, I want to be her!😉 Oh me too! She started posting from when was packing at home and the journey in between boarding the ship. I am 64 yo, will be 65 when I sail my first VV TA, as a solo, and she is really inspiring me. I am either an introverted extrovert or an extroverted introvert, either wat, I love sailing solo, but on my terms, if that makes sense. I'm keep telling her go Essie go!!! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mahasamatman Posted July 19 #19 Share Posted July 19 7 hours ago, wahlct said: All of VV's restaurants are included, and the quality is at least as good as X specialty restaurants. That's not a glowing recommendation. Overall, Celebrity has the worst specialty restaurants of all the lines we're cruised. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare NMTraveller Posted July 19 #20 Share Posted July 19 Celebrity dropped with their food quality and VV took the reins... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chefchick Posted July 19 #21 Share Posted July 19 5 hours ago, Judyrem said: Agree, I would not feel comfortable being a solo older woman on VV. I’m curious..why? I celebrated my sixtieth birthday solo on Virgin’s Valiant Lady (a TA) and had a blast. I have been cruising for over 30 years and have been on almost all the mainstream cruise lines (and then some) although not always solo. I consider cruising to be one of the safest vacations a solo female can take. I’m a big believer in not ALL cruise lines are for ALL people but I’m not sure why you’d be uncomfortable on Virgin when perhaps you are not on Celebrity ships I presume? 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimiq Posted July 19 #22 Share Posted July 19 Celebrity is still a great line but if they do want to keep that chic modern luxury they do need to change and upgrade some areas. They had an all inclusive that included the tips not that long ago and they removed that portion without making any adjustment to the pricing. If you don’t take a package I find the drinks to be a bit expensive compare to other lines. The need to up the game in the food department as well and have more included tasteful options for cruisers. The adult pool should remain for adults only. For me they are almost there and just need that little extra to make it back to the top. That belongs to the big heads. Thanks ‘Sea Ya Eric 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare chemmo Posted July 19 #23 Share Posted July 19 14 hours ago, wahlct said: We took our first VV cruise a couple of months ago, and the differences are drastic. We mainly wanted to take the cruise as it's adult only. IMO, VV beats Celebrity in: 1. Food. All of VV's restaurants are included, and the quality is at least as good as X specialty restaurants. 2. Entertainment. More adult oriented and more varied. For me, X has gotten stale, and the quality/$ is dropping. Food quality and service has dropped while prices have gone up substantially. All of the X ships have basically the same restaurants with the same menus for years. The menu in Tuscany is the same as when I first dined there in 2011. To answer your question, they need to get back to what set them apart originally. More "luxury". Stop nickel-diming me on everything like all the other lines. Stop taking away service. Bring back the sea day brunch buffet. Bring the food back to where it was. In the past 2 years, we've been on 4 lines, and X ranked 3rd for us, behind Azamara and VV, even though it was the most expensive. Thank you for your review. I have two sets of friends who cruised Virgin last year… One set of friends loved it and the other set hated it! One set described the ambiance as ‘bubbling and exciting’ and the other as ‘loud and busy’…. The one thing both sets did agree on was that the food was very good! For those of us ‘dithering’ on trying new cruise lines reviews like yours are very useful. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom and Ingrid Posted July 19 #24 Share Posted July 19 18 hours ago, wahlct said: We took our first VV cruise a couple of months ago, and the differences are drastic. We mainly wanted to take the cruise as it's adult only. We're in the same boat 😄 in that we're ready to give VV (and others) a try - especially since we've got no kids in tow and have no interest in having other folks' kids behaving as kids generally do. In the past, Celebrity has done really well with service, food, general vibe, and a nice level of families with kids. Maybe that is changing. Maybe it's not, but kids are not doing the onboard programs as much, or maybe the kids are just less supervised, but if it tips much more in the favor of "families", it may become a much lower option for us - ASSUMING other lines like VV can meet the service, food, and vibe we like. For VV, I think their fleet is too small and their options not super enticing. I see the TAs right now as the only ones jumping out to me, but give them time and they might add enough to their fleet and options that it becomes a line with repeatability. In the meantime, MSC or Princess or Cunard for a TA seem to have an inside track to edge into our cruise plans, which is tough for me to think as someone who is solely a Celebrity cruiser up until now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judyrem Posted July 19 #25 Share Posted July 19 (edited) 7 hours ago, chefchick said: I’m curious..why? I celebrated my sixtieth birthday solo on Virgin’s Valiant Lady (a TA) and had a blast. I have been cruising for over 30 years and have been on almost all the mainstream cruise lines (and then some) although not always solo. I consider cruising to be one of the safest vacations a solo female can take. I’m a big believer in not ALL cruise lines are for ALL people but I’m not sure why you’d be uncomfortable on Virgin when perhaps you are not on Celebrity ships I presume? I have not been on a cruise since the covid debacle. Most of the time I go on land vacations but when I went to Tuscany and Sicily for two weeks with four other women recently , we all realized our struggles with suitcases, and steps were becoming problematic for us, ergo cruises or private group tours. I can't always find women to go with because they still have husbands and can not travel as easily as I fortunately able to do. BTW, in one week my friend and I are on Queen Mary 2 for a TA to Hamburg and five days Hamburg. I have a "solo" on Beyond in October, a solo Western Caribbean on Constellation in Jan, a March Infinity sailing from Greece and an October sailing on Apex to Portugal and the Canaries. Edited July 19 by Judyrem 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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