Disappointed!

[missbear]

My husband and I are trying to plan a 10th anniversary cruise next winter and we are surprised at how limited the Caribbean sailings are, there is only one 7 night cruise itinerary and we have done that exact cruise on that same ship so that’s not an option. We tried RCL and didn’t love it. Celebrity may lose our business over this, if we find a cruise line we like as much, we may be gone. We were told by customer service that the line is building some new ships, but by that time, I may not care.

 

I hope they read this because they seem to be scheduling their ships to accommodate a wealthy clientele who can take a lot of time off. They could be alienating a slightly less well off group who can't take so much time off but appreciates and is willing to pay a bit more for quality. Shorter itineraries don't interest us either, we're pretty bummed out about this change.

 

Thanks all, for letting me vent. Best wishes to everyone.

[Eleris]

MB - I am sure if you find another line with the itinerary that works for you then go for it! The other line will give you a chance to see what the pro's and con's are that matter most to you. We tried RCI last year because we had the exact same problem. Our trip itinerary was what we wanted but I can see that the differences between the lines made me appreciate X a bit more. There were some features that I liked better but overall I still prefer X. That's the beauty of a freedom of choice - we have a choice! Enjoy whatever you decide to do....:D

[superjerryw]

My husband and I are trying to plan a 10th anniversary cruise next winter and we are surprised at how limited the Caribbean sailings are, there is only one 7 night cruise itinerary and we have done that exact cruise on that same ship so that’s not an option. We tried RCL and didn’t love it. Celebrity may lose our business over this, if we find a cruise line we like as much, we may be gone. We were told by customer service that the line is building some new ships, but by that time, I may not care.

 

I hope they read this because they seem to be scheduling their ships to accommodate a wealthy clientele who can take a lot of time off. They could be alienating a slightly less well off group who can't take so much time off but appreciates and is willing to pay a bit more for quality. Shorter itineraries don't interest us either, we're pretty bummed out about this change.

 

Thanks all, for letting me vent. Best wishes to everyone.

 

I don't really think it's a question of accommodating clientele that are well off who can take a lot of time off. The fact of the matter is that not everyone is interested in a 7 day Caribbean cruise. Many people have done these 7 day Caribbean trips numerous times and are looking for something else. Celebrity is merely filling a niche by offering longer cruises as well as cruises to different locations. If there was not a market for these cruises they would not be offered. An an example, we did a 12 day Caribbean cruise last year on the Constellation sailing from New Jersey. When you factor in what it would have cost me to fly to Florida, book a hotel for one night, etc, it really wasn't expensive at all. I was happy to swap the money I would have paid for airfare for extra days on the ship. Similarly, Celebrity has had European cruises and cruises to Bermuda when other cruise lines offered nothing similar.

[Longboysfan]

Check this out.... 10 days to the south out of San Juam.

Over two weekends.

You just use Friday and Monday. So it's not so bad.

February 2nd. ;)

[bububr]

X has some 4 and 5 day cruises that might fit your schedule. If you want to do something for longer maybe scedule in a couple days before or couple of days after to stretch it out to 7 days.

 

Dave:eek:

[reklawr]

Missbear,

You'll enjoy the longer cruise as you get a little older. Longer cruises generally have less children. Us old folk (Boomers) like the longer cruises.

[Fang]

I can understand why X is doing longer cruises. If my family was in the position to take them I would be very happy about it, however, we are not.

 

Due to school, babysitters and work my wife and I have to cruise at very specific times.

 

On all of my X cruises, which have been for seven days, the ships have been full. I guess that X feels they can and will fill up these longer cruises.

 

I wish that X had a year round seven day cruise out of FLL or SJU. I think that they are thinking that most people who can not do the longers cruises are going to book on RCCL. I do not think that will always happen. I am going to take a cruise in January 2007 and will probably book Princess.

 

I did not leave Celebrity, Celebrity left me!!!!

[Leela]

If you can hang on until 2008, there will be two new X ships, right? Solstice and Equinox are too big to fit through the Panamal Canal, so I assume that means they'll be doing a lot of Caribbean trips.

 

(Of course this assumes the ships get done, on time, etc etc., two years is a long time to wait.)

[Duanerice1]

Fang,

I understand. We were not going on a cruise in April again in 2007 but just decided to. Low an behold there are no 7 night Caribbean cruises. Never paid attention to it until I tried to book one.

 

I know there are 10 and 11 days cruises, but the cost gets up there. When we cruise, we like to splurge a little and get CC cabins so we are looking at $4,500+ for 10 nights. Even the lower balcony cabins are close to $4,000. Besides, a cruise isn't "the" vacation for us. It's fun and we enjoy it, but it is secondary to other vacations so we don't want to spend a ton of money on it.

 

I was talking to a coworker about vacations yesterday. She pretty much stated that she will not take another Caribbean cruise because she has pretty much been to all the ports. I'm sure others are in the same boat.

 

So, I am booked on RCL. All the money goes into the same pot, so they probably don't care. Let RCL take care of the Caribbean and Celebrity will take care of the other areas.

 

Duane

[naked]

Folks should remember the the market demand is what drives this.

 

Note that the former option of Connie sailing out of San Juan for 7 days was often the cheapest per/day offering of any M-Class ship. Why? because that where the MARKET set the demand for such a trip.

 

5 days on the new Century with some extra land time might be your best option.

[Leela]

She pretty much stated that she will not take another Caribbean cruise because she has pretty much been to all the ports. I'm sure others are in the same boat.

Count me in that boat. The only reason why I'm going there next year is because I have to pass through it to get to the Panama Canal!

 

I think the next areas I'm going to try to cruise are Alaska (been once, would love to go again), California Coastal (they do a couple of these a year between the Mexico and Alaska seasons), and Hawaii (how can you go wrong with Hawaii??).

[Andy]

My husband and I are trying to plan a 10th anniversary cruise next winter and we are surprised at how limited the Caribbean sailings are, there is only one 7 night cruise itinerary and we have done that exact cruise on that same ship so that’s not an option. We tried RCL and didn’t love it. Celebrity may lose our business over this, if we find a cruise line we like as much, we may be gone. We were told by customer service that the line is building some new ships, but by that time, I may not care.

 

I hope they read this because they seem to be scheduling their ships to accommodate a wealthy clientele who can take a lot of time off. They could be alienating a slightly less well off group who can't take so much time off but appreciates and is willing to pay a bit more for quality. Shorter itineraries don't interest us either, we're pretty bummed out about this change.

 

Thanks all, for letting me vent. Best wishes to everyone.

 

Hi Missbear !

 

I understand your frustration. Celebrity has been reducing their exposure to the Caribbean the past few years, especially on the 7 night itineraries.

 

The way I see it, if you want to sail Celebrity, you have a few options.

 

1. Millennium is still doing 7 night sailings out of Ft Lauderdale this Winter.

 

2. Century will be doing 4-5 night sailings out of Miami this Winter.

 

3. Summit will be doing some excellent 7 night sailings out of San Juan in Early 2008. If you can wait until early 2008, and willing to fly to San Juan, these are the best 7 night itineraries that Celebrity will be offering.

 

Sadly, Celebrity's 2007/2008 Caribbean season, will be the shortest Caribbean season that I can recall, as many ships are staying in Europe later than ever. For those who want to sail Celebrity to the Caribbean, the season will be extremely short, and your choices will be quite limited.

 

Hopefully, there will be more options when Solstice and Equinox are added to Celebrity's fleet, but that will not happen until Late 2008.

[Andy]

So, I am booked on RCL. All the money goes into the same pot, so they probably don't care. Let RCL take care of the Caribbean and Celebrity will take care of the other areas.

 

Duane

 

Hi Duane !

 

I have to say, that I do not fully agree with the thinking of.... let RCL take care of the Caribbean and let Celebrity take care of all other areas. Royal offers a very different product than Celebrity, and IMHO, Royal is not nearly as good as Celebrity. I do not care to get forced into sailing with Royal as Celebrity will not have the best Caribbean itineraries for me to choose from.

 

With that said, I do feel this logic may be exactly what Royal & Celebrity's plan is. However, I do not think it should be assumed that a loyal Celebrity passenger will automatically book with Royal Caribbean instead. If that logic is in fact their plan, it is a gamble that may not pay off.

 

In my case, I may give Royal Caribbean some consideration, but it is unlikely they will get our bookings. While I hate to look anywhere other than Celebrity, I am looking into several other Cruise lines for 2007/2008 including Princess, Norwegian, and Oceania.

 

It's not that I want to look elsewhere. Celebrity could have had our loyalty indefinately. Celebrity is leaving us no other choice, as they continue to reduce their Caribbean exposure. That is unfortunate for those of us who like to sail that region.