John Chandris - Some Interesting News

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

Royal Caribbean just announced that John Chandris will not seek re-election to Royal Caribbean's Board of Directors. In case you are not aware of who John Chandris is, he is the founder of what is now Celebrity Cruises.

 

While it is sad to see him move on, I would like to thank him for his dedication. I wish him all the very best in the future.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

HI ANDY!!! Nice of you to mention John Chandris. He really knew how to run a line. I only wish that he would start another company. Some of us have had the great luck to have experienced Chandris -Fantasy- Celebrity from the AMERIKANIS to the SUMMIT. I remember John Chandris when he and his family took over the GALLILAO. I was actually onboard and sitting next to them and listening to them when they were making plans to turn the GALLILAO into the MERIDIAN with the birth of Celebrity Cruises. I always said that I was present at the birth of Celebrity...LOL. It is a shame that the personal touch of the Chandris family will no longer be felt at Celebrity. Sadly, RCI is replacing people like John Chandris with MBAs who have no knowledge of ocean liners and the great traditions that they created over the past 150 years.

 

ROSS

[Andy]

HI ANDY!!! Nice of you to mention John Chandris. He really knew how to run a line. I only wish that he would start another company. Some of us have had the great luck to have experienced Chandris -Fantasy- Celebrity from the AMERIKANIS to the SUMMIT. I remember John Chandris when he and his family took over the GALLILAO. I was actually onboard and sitting next to them and listening to them when they were making plans to turn the GALLILAO into the MERIDIAN with the birth of Celebrity Cruises. I always said that I was present at the birth of Celebrity...LOL. It is a shame that the personal touch of the Chandris family will no longer be felt at Celebrity. Sadly, RCI is replacing people like John Chandris with MBAs who have no knowledge of ocean liners and the great traditions that they created over the past 150 years.

 

ROSS

 

Hi Ross !

 

I am surprised that there is little interest in this news item.

 

I am sorry to see Mr. Chandris go. Without his (and his Family's) hard work and dedication, Celebrity would not be here today. I agree with your comments about the personal touch of the Chandris family, but of course, one has to wonder just how much they have been involved with Celebrity over the past several years.

 

At any rate, I am very curious to see if anything changes at Celebrity, with Mr. Chandris no longer being a part of it.

[idssms]

There are changes being made currently. Some of the Greek Officers are not having their contracts renewed due to their high costs. A number of great Hotel Directors have been let go, ie, Misters Traganis and Tumozatos. It's too bad because they were great people.

 

Don

[ocngypz]

Well, I would venture to say that the vast majority of posters would not have a clue as to who John Chandris is/was/would be/will be.. etc.

 

Thanks to him I was able to sail Dad's old ships, decades later.. and that's how I wound up eventually with Celebrity. If you put all my Chandris/Fantasy/Celebrity cruises together..that would make 55!

[Sky Sweet]

There are changes being made currently. Some of the Greek Officers are not having their contracts renewed due to their high costs. A number of great Hotel Directors have been let go, ie, Misters Traganis and Tumozatos. It's too bad because they were great people.

 

Don

 

It sounds as if their long term objective is to appeal to a larger segment of the market that is more concerned with cost than overall cruise experience.

[tuggers]

I guess the X on the ships will be the next thing to go!

I think the shame of it all is that the current crop of Celebrity Exec's probably know less about the Chandris family and their work ethics and management style than a lot of posters on these boards.

The old, hands on, do what it takes to make the passengers happy style of Chandris was destined to be pushed out by corporate greed. The only amazing thing should be that it took so long.

Our wonderful, Greek Hotel Directors are being replaced by younger, non Greeks, with Sales and Marketing degrees and little or no Hotel Management. Who woulda thunk?

[Andy]

I guess the X on the ships will be the next thing to go!

 

Hi Gail !

 

That's the first thing I thought of. I wouldnt be surprised to see Celebrity come up with some sort of snazzy logo, but I am not rooting for it to happen. I like the X.

[greyblueseas]

Sounds to me like a shame he is going, and also that the longer serving officers/members of staff are leaving too. If values/ethics change considerably, then so will the customer experience, and a management of cheap MBAs with no appreciation of ocean liner history and every appreciation of profit margins might well diminish that experience. I hate to hear of people being released because they are "too expensive"; people are any organisation's greatest asset.

[floridacruisers]

From what I remember, Chandris started Celebrity as a result of two "upscale" cruise lines disappearing, those being SITMAR gobbled up by Princess and Paquet pulling the SS Rhapsody (a personal favorite). They wanted to fill this void. Our first experince on Celebrity was the second sailing of the Zenith (April 1992)and they sure did fill that gap with food and service back then. We pulled into San Juan on that trip and next to us was the Amerikanis. What a beautiful sight that was at night. We got to visit the Amerikanis that night and was surprized how nice this old ship was. She looked so small next to our "huge" Zenith. We even got to sample some food and it was just as good as ours on the Zenith. Whether or not the "X" factor changes even more, RCI can't take away those wonderful days and nights we have spent on our past 15 Celebrity cruises. Long live the "Chandris Effect".

[ocngypz]

Not to quibble, but it was the demise of Home Lines. Horizon and Zenith were originally designed for Home Lines. Century was the first 100% newly designed Celebrity ship.

[Ships R Great]

"Our wonderful, Greek Hotel Directors are being replaced by younger, non Greeks, with Sales and Marketing degrees and little or no Hotel Management. Who woulda thunk?"

 

Gail, not only HDs are being replaced with non-Greeks. Many Junior Officers now are non-Greek, which means that as the old officers retire the new (non-Greek) officers will take over. When we first sailed (Century in 2000) ALL officers were Greek. Now look at the stage when the Captain introduces the officers. 25% non-Greek. I don't like it, but what can we do? The Greek feel of the ships is going and it is too bad.

[herb]

how will this news actually affect the Celebrity cruisers in 2007 as far as service, ship maintenance, etc.

[floridacruisers]

ocngypx,

 

You're right. Wrong Italian cruise line. Does anybody remember the SS Rhapsody?

[CGTNORMANDIE]

I guess it was bound to happen. Pretty soon X will look like Princess and Carnival etc. The Chandris family wanted to take X to the premium level but RCI is constantly bringing X down to the mass market level. It is strange that with all the price increases in the past year that the quality continues to head downward. The product is becoming more bland and most of us "old hands" are looking around at alternative cruise lines...sad but true.

[MSBYRDY]

Our first cruise was with Chandris Fantasy Cruises on the Galilleo. The bug bit us hard and have been loyal ever since.

Marilyn

[AtlantaCruiser72]

This is what happens when you let former airline execs (Jack williams was a protege of Bob Crandall at American Airlines) run a cruise line. Race to the bottom, penny pinch and nickel and dime your passengers to death! Royal Caribbean/Celebrity increasingly care more about revenue management than customer service it would seem.

 

I only wish that RCCL had allowed X to stand on it's own operationally like Carnival Corp has done with HAL, Princess, Seabourn, etc. I think X has all the potenital from a hardware (ship) standpoint to blow everyone else out of the water (Including Crystal and RSSC), and generally deliver a solid onboard product, if only thie landslide operations weren't such a letdown.

 

I may "jump" to HAL for my (hopeful) Alaska cruise next summer if I see significant changes to the onboard experience on my Infinity Cruise this week. My last Celebrity Cruises were the Constellation in January 2004 (excellent) and Mercury December 2002 (amazing trip!). Even though HAL has changed some of it's policies in recent years (tipping,etc.) it seems that they are pushing to bring their product quality ever upward and living up to the promise, while X is promising (and charging for) "a taste of luxury" and delivering (reportedly) a more run-of-the-mill experience. I'll see for myself in 3 days!!!!!

[joeb]

That is sad news. My wife and I did our first cruise together on the Britannis and have very fond memories of what would now be considered a little rustbucket. So Chandris was responsible for us catching the cruising bug too. I think at the time Britanis was the oldest ship doing passenger cruises - but that didn't stop us from having a great time, and I remember really enjoying the food. It wasn't gourmet by any means, but good quality, fresh, and most importantly tasty - real flavor - they weren't afraid to have an ethnic dish or two that actually tasted authentic. Now bland banquet food is becoming more and more the norm with the ships so big.

 

We also did the Horizon's first season out of New York to Bermuda for our honeymoon. Wonderful food and a fine restaurant experience in the dining room. I remember the waiter staff coming around with platters bearing a selection of vegetables you could choose to go with your dinner, sommeliers that weren't running around overworked and just getting to your table after you've already started eating...etc. I really miss those days of cruising....

[Fury1995]

Hello all. Stopping by from the Royal board and this caught my attention.

 

I think I speak for quite a few RCL loyalists when I say this. I really hope they don't re-badge the Celebrity ships. I love the unique and recognizable "X" and what it has represented over the years. I also hope this doesn't mean Celebrity will get watered down as a result.

 

I for one, take comfort knowing Celebrity has always been as an upscale alternative to all of us Royal Caribbean cruisers who want to go "little more classy" while enjoying the perks we've earned staying loyal to the brand.

 

It kinda reminds me of the Daimler/Chrysler merger (Mercedes owners would agree). I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens and if this trend continues.

[Arubalisa]

Our first cruise was with Chandris Fantasy Cruises on the Galilleo. The bug bit us hard and have been loyal ever since.

Marilyn

That is sad news. My wife and I did our first cruise together on the Britannis and have very fond memories of what would now be considered a little rustbucket. So Chandris was responsible for us catching the cruising bug too. I think at the time Britanis was the oldest ship doing passenger cruises - but that didn't stop us from having a great time, and I remember really enjoying the food. It wasn't gourmet by any means, but good quality, fresh, and most importantly tasty - real flavor - they weren't afraid to have an ethnic dish or two that actually tasted authentic. Now bland banquet food is becoming more and more the norm with the ships so big.

The Galileo and the Britanis, now there were two classic cruise ships on what was a absoulutely superb cruise line. I sailed on one of the Galileo's first sailings following Chandris-Fantasy's purchase and loved everything about her. http://www.maritimematters.com/sun-vista.html Paragraph 5 describes how Celebrity came into being and Galileo was the "guinea pig" and turned into the Meridian which of course led to the Horizon and Zenith...onto Century class...

The Britannis on the other hand was old, built in 1932 in the US :eek: . I liked that joeb pointed out that nowadays this ship would be considered a rust bucket. BUT I know in my heart that gal was a true classic. Kind of makes me feel sorry for all the glitz, glam and neon lovers out there now who will never be able to experience such a beautiful ship and her beautiful woodwork. Remember the Gallery Bar? I have yet to find any space on any ship which is quite so inviting.

Looking back and seeing that she was only 18,017 GRT I no longer wonder why I have never wished to cruise the larger 100,000+ GT ships. [sailed the Golden at 105,000 GT too big for my liking.]

This whole topic also makes me wonder why someone does not give a shot at catering to what I suppose you could call a "niche customer". Smaller, classical liners, well maintained with superb food and service. I am just dreaming, I am sure that if it were financially feasible it would have already been done. Mr. Chandris are you retiring or moving on to bigger and better things???

Just to further reminisce:

S.S. BELOFIN-1 (ex MONTEREY, ex MATSONIA, ex LURLINE, ex BRITANIS) a tribute to an American-built liner

as MONTEREY http://www.maritimematters.com/britanis.html

Built in 1932 by Bethlehem Steel at Quincy, Mass

Yard number 1441

631 x 79.1 feet

18,017 GRT

twin screw, geared turbines; 21.5 knots (maximum 23)

passengers: 472 First class, 229 cabin class, crew: 360

The second in a trio of remarkably successful ships designed by William Francis Gibbs the $8,300,492 MONTEREY followed the similar LURLINE and was soon to be joined by the identical MARIPOSA. She was christened by Mrs. E. Faxton Bishop, wife of a Matson Line director, and was launched on October 10, 1931. Delivered on April 20, she embarked 83 passengers for a positioning voyage from New York to San Francisco on May 12, 1932. Her official maiden voyage departed San Francisco on June 3, 1932, calling at Los Angeles, Honolulu, Auckland, Pago Pago, Suva, Sydney and Melbourne. She and the MARIPOSA (which joined her on February 2, 1932) shortened the running time by a third and scored high marks for the new standard of service and accommodation they introduced to this route.

According to the excellent FIFTY FAMOUS LINERS (Volume Two), an early career highlight of the MONTEREY (and a public relations coup for Matson Line) was when she carried a special cargo of canned milk, sweets, and phonograph records for Admiral Byrd's vessel BEAR during its historic journey to Antarctica.

Final photo tour S.S. BRITANIS at Tampa, Florida: 17 January 1998

http://www.maritimematters.com/belofin.html

http://www.maritimematters.com/belofin2.html

BELOFIN-1 (ex BRITANIS) sank off South Africa while under tow by the Ukrainian tug IRIBIS on 21 October, 2000. http://www.maritimematters.com/britanis.html

Sorry this is so long, thank you for enduring & indulging my reminiscing...