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Laura Hodges Bethage responses to Questions are an insult !!!!


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1 minute ago, jelayne said:


 

in a Suite you automatically get the beverage and wi-fi there isn’t a cruise only option.    So for a suite do  a mock booking of a suite w/o entering your Captains Club # then do it again adding your CC # and you will see the  Zenith price.  The difference is  about $44 pp per night. 

 

So before the pandemic, if you were Zenith, you did not receive free drinks or wifi?  I'm not even going to get into what qualifies as a discount until that's answered...lol

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I don't understand the hand wringing. It's absolutely corporate spin and a PR exercise and I never thought it would be anything else. I agree with @canderson that the marketing intern should have thrown in a line that they're going to improve training/communications/blah blah blah.  And same Marketing intern should be preparing a report that tallies up all of the questions so that perhaps one day in the future they'll get 5 minutes attention in an executive committee meeting. 

 

But why are people so upset about this? I know that we all feel ownership of the brand (as I said in my question which was answered with corporate speak) but we are not owners - even if we're shareholders. If you don't like it - the answers or the way the ships are being run - then we have the option to book elsewhere. 

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Posted (edited)
26 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

So before the pandemic, if you were Zenith, you did not receive free drinks or wifi?  I'm not even going to get into what qualifies as a discount until that's answered...lol

I thought the suites always came with all the perks…so it seems like a discount to me, not that I’m a Zenith or anything close.

Edited by PTC DAWG
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7 minutes ago, mrgabriel said:

 

 

But why are people so upset about this? I know that we all feel ownership of the brand (as I said in my question which was answered with corporate speak) but we are not owners - even if we're shareholders. If you don't like it - the answers or the way the ships are being run - then we have the option to book elsewhere. 

Sure, people can be upset but look at how many people have several cruises booked in the future.  Some find it difficult to try another cruise line as they are getting a free bag of laundry even though they may be paying for it many times over.  Marketing at its best.

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Updated list of passenger-friendly additions/updates that were not cutback reversals since the restart:

 

-Starlink

-eMuster

-Elite happy hour on the first day

-CC points via PUP points

-CC status match can match to higher RCI tiers

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3 hours ago, jelayne said:


 

in a Suite you automatically get the beverage and wi-fi there isn’t a cruise only option.    So for a suite do  a mock booking of a suite w/o entering your Captains Club # then do it again adding your CC # and you will see the  Zenith price.  The difference is  about $44 pp per night. 

Yes, even though the actual cost of these perks is generally double that.  Happy to get any discount, don't get me wrong.  But I hate when I hear it referred to as cruise only (not saying you did - talking in general).  It's a discount but not a cruise only price.

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3 hours ago, horseymike said:

My question keeps getting pushed further toward the bottom of the list.

I am curious who makes that decision ?

 

 

 The post are ordered by the Web software based on the time of the last entry.  If there were no comments or anything made to your post then it would be automatically move down based on new questions or new comments/responses to question.  

 

  I wish there was way to separate unanswered questions until there was an answer or until Friday when the answer stop.  That way we would know which questions they chose not to answer easily. 

 

 

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6 hours ago, thebutlerdidit said:

It’s sort of frustrating to read her answers because there’s no back-and-forth dialog to help us understand them. For example, her response to questions about removing footstools and loungers from balconies states that changes were made based on guest needs and preferences. So many follow-up questions are triggered by this response! 

The guests need loungers and footstools and they prefer to have them.  The real answer is Celebrity just doesn't want to pay for them. You have to read between the lines.

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3 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

So before the pandemic, if you were Zenith, you did not receive free drinks or wifi?  I'm not even going to get into what qualifies as a discount until that's answered...lol

You got drinks and wi-fi as a Suite guest as the regular Suite pricing builds those in. Zeniths paid the same as everyone else so getting them “free” as Zenith meant nothing if you booked a Suite.  You don’t get 2 packages. 
The Zenith discount reduces by about $44 pp pn the Suite price for Zeniths. 

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3 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

It's safe to say this so-called "zenith discount" does not qualify as a new passenger-friendly benefit 

It does to me as a Zenith. 

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Posted (edited)
6 hours ago, canderson said:

Here's an example.  Someone questioned the shipboard practice/line regarding 10s on cruise surveys.  Her answer was

 

We always want our guests to provide us with their honest feedback so that we can continuously enhance our experience and offerings. The post-cruise survey is one of the best tools we have to truly understand what we do well and what needs improvement. We do not interpret ratings less than 10 as a failure, nor do we expect to always receive 10s.  We constantly strive to be better and to provide our guests with their dream vacation, so we encourage you to answer honestly. 

 

OK.  Fine.  So Miami says they want honest answers.  That's nice and as it should be.  What are they going to do that provides them with honest answers vs. what's happening aboard now?

 

Her answer does not address the problem - which has been an annoying and unhelpful practice aboard for years now - nor does it address the question the OP asked.  She could have said, "We are sorry to hear this, and we will again pass down our corporate policy to the ships and ask that they properly train and comply."  That would have been an answer worth giving.

It would have been but perhaps corporate is putting the crew up to this. If everyone puts up a 10 then every one must be happy and there is no need to change.  For what it's worth I don't do surveys and I'll tell them. It's a complete waste of my time and theirs. Nothing good ever comes from them no matter what industry uses them. The worst is when the Dr's office sends them. The Dr is keeping me alive or I didn't die in surgery. I think that should be an automatic 10.

Edited by Iamcruzin
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4 minutes ago, jelayne said:

You got drinks and wi-fi as a Suite guest as the regular Suite pricing builds those in. Zeniths paid the same as everyone else so getting them “free” as Zenith meant nothing if you booked a Suite.  You don’t get 2 packages. 
The Zenith discount reduces by about $44 pp pn the Suite price for Zeniths. 

 

Let's refer to it as a "Zenith perk rebate" when sailing in a suite; you're fairly certain this didn't exist pre-pandemic?  Is this in writing online anywhere?

 

I guess this counts as a benefit assuming it wasn't offered pre-pandemic but I don't want to open the floodgates for pricing structure.  During the pandemic, they released AI without a sail-only option for a typical cruiser in the US (excluding things like casino-comped rooms). Then they opened up sail-only for all rooms including suites then they got rid of all sail-only rates once someone complained they couldn't get a free drink in the retreat lounge.  Then allowed sail-only rates again up to AQ.  Yet all of that was the US sites, there was the loophole that if you booked from a Canada TA site like Expedia, you could still get the sail-only rate

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Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

Yes, even though the actual cost of these perks is generally double that.  Happy to get any discount, don't get me wrong.  But I hate when I hear it referred to as cruise only (not saying you did - talking in general).  It's a discount but not a cruise only price.

What I said was that there was no cruise only 

 

15 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Let's refer to it as a "Zenith perk rebate" when sailing in a suite; you're fairly certain this didn't exist pre-pandemic?  Is this in writing online anywhere?

 

I guess this counts as a benefit assuming it wasn't offered pre-pandemic but I don't want to open the floodgates for pricing structure.  During the pandemic, they released AI without a sail-only option for a typical cruiser in the US (excluding things like casino-comped rooms). Then they opened up sail-only for all rooms including suites then they got rid of all sail-only rates once someone complained they couldn't get a free drink in the retreat lounge.  Then allowed sail-only rates again up to AQ.  Yet all of that was the US sites, there was the loophole that if you booked from a Canada TA site like Expedia, you could still get the sail-only rate

It was not offered pre pandemic.  It was communicated to Zeniths in April.  The first time we received the discount was for a cruise this spring. 

Edited by jelayne
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5 minutes ago, jelayne said:

What I said was that there was no cruise only 

 

It was not offered pre pandemic.  It was communicated to Zeniths late 2023 or very early this year.  The first time we received the discount was for a cruise this spring. 

I agree.  That's why I added the comments in parenthesis.  I'm talking in general - it has been called that a lot - including in some communication from management when it was first offered.

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10 minutes ago, jelayne said:

What I said was that there was no cruise only 

 

It was not offered pre pandemic.  It was communicated to Zeniths in April.  The first time we received the discount was for a cruise this spring. 

 

Last set of questions on this (I hope, lol).  It doesn't appear to be online anywhere, I would imagine if you are Zenith and book online or through a TA, the perk rebate is not "given" to you, you have to know about it and have to call and ask for it, correct?  If you were to book on the phone and didn't know about the rebate, would the rep even bring it up or do you need to ask for it?

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1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 

  I wish there was way to separate unanswered questions until there was an answer or until Friday when the answer stop.  That way we would know which questions they chose not to answer easily. 

 

 

The mods are "pinning" the threads that have been answered. If there is no "pin" symbol at the beginning of the thread title, it has not been answered yet. 

 

mac_tlc

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2 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

The mods are "pinning" the threads that have been answered. If there is no "pin" symbol at the beginning of the thread title, it has not been answered yet. 

 

 Understand -- so anything that is not pinned is unanswered.  But having to sift through so many questions to look for what is or isn't pinned just made me think there has to be a better way. 

 

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2 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 Understand -- so anything that is not pinned is unanswered.  But having to sift through so many questions to look for what is or isn't pinned just made me think there has to be a better way. 

 

Agree that there should be. Right now, the first unpinned question is on Page 3 of the thread. 

 

 

mac_tlc

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 The one answer she gave that I am still trying to get my head around is the one regarding adding Coco Cay to the Celebrity itinerary.  The rationale is that it was their number 1 reviewed site.  Well, it's Royal's Private island and untill recently only Royal ships sailed there so how did they know that Celebrity curisers wanted to go there if the only input that had was from those sailing on Royal Caribbean cruises? 

 

 Anyway, it apparently is a done deal and a lot of people like it so I'll just continue to avoid cruises that go there.  

 

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10 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 The one answer she gave that I am still trying to get my head around is the one regarding adding Coco Cay to the Celebrity itinerary.  The rationale is that it was their number 1 reviewed site.  Well, it's Royal's Private island and untill recently only Royal ships sailed there so how did they know that Celebrity curisers wanted to go there if the only input that had was from those sailing on Royal Caribbean cruises? 

 

 Anyway, it apparently is a done deal and a lot of people like it so I'll just continue to avoid cruises that go there.  

 

Build it and they will come.  If they don't, we'll bring them anyway, whether they want to or not.

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6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Agree -- Just the same 'ol Marketing PR  Spin....  Making Lemonaid out of Watermelons.

Or persimmons 

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Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 The one answer she gave that I am still trying to get my head around is the one regarding adding Coco Cay to the Celebrity itinerary.  The rationale is that it was their number 1 reviewed site.  Well, it's Royal's Private island and untill recently only Royal ships sailed there so how did they know that Celebrity curisers wanted to go there if the only input that had was from those sailing on Royal Caribbean cruises? 

 

 Anyway, it apparently is a done deal and a lot of people like it so I'll just continue to avoid cruises that go there.  

 

It’s better than Nassau, hands down, unless you like to gamble at Atlantis

Edited by PTC DAWG
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30 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

t’s better than Nassau, hands down, unless you like to gamble at Atlantis

Edited 25 minutes ago by PTC DWG

Only problem is that most Nassau day stops depart at 6pm when the casino table games open.

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1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

It’s better than Nassau, hands down, unless you like to gamble at Atlantis

 

 I do not know about that.  We found some nice restaurants and places to shop in Nassau that you'll never find on Coco Cay.  

 

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