The Morphing of X

[C 2 C]

There are quite a few changes taking place on Celebrity ships.

The Dance hosts are gone.

The Librarians are gone.

The photographers have been replaced.. all equipment and staff have been supplied by a new company.

The "HCS" Highseas Computer Services are being phased out fleet wide.

No new master chef to replace:

MIAMI, Jan. 5 -- Celebrity Cruises today announced plans to evolve its fleetwide ending its affiliation with Master Chef Michel Roux. The mutual agreement coincides with the end of Roux's current contract with Celebrity.

A new X plate is now making an appearance... to replace =X=

The new class ships will no longer have an X on the smoke stacks... just a big X painted on the side over several decks.

 

I just hope someone at corporate HQ actually knows that these changes will make for a more positive corporate image.

[chrismch]

On our Dec '06 cruise we still had a librarian, although for the size of the library I didn't see the necessity. There were'nt that many new books so I don't really see the need of a librarian. Just let cruisers pick up and leave books.

[tuggers]

You could be right about the dance hosts but I will wait to hear it from my friend the dance host who is booked through '07 and into '08 as a host.

Why do we need librarians? According to one who was moved to another position, they lost 200 books in a month with the 'honor' system. Plus everytime I went int there it was a MESS! No books shelved, books on table, desk, floor, everywhere. Also saw more books left laying around the pool. No accountability means no respect.

I just hope someone at corporate HQ actually knows that these changes will make for a more positive corporate image

 

HUH?

[woodofpine]

Maybe these "problems" are soley the pax' ;)

[WooKeef]

I hope this doesn't mean that the quality of the food is taking a turn for the worse. Are they cutting costs? Just thought it looked like that was what they were doing; cutting out the librarian (tuggers is correct on this one) is a bad idea with some peoples irresponsibility. probably went to a cheaper contract with the photographers.

I hope C2C is right and this is a positive thing.

[C 2 C]

I hope C2C is right and this is a positive thing.

 

I'm hoping that someone at HQ actually believes that these changes will lead to a better image and better product.

I should have included an :rolleyes:... yeh, right.

My opinion of X is not the greatest right now...:(

[cruisecd]

On my Summit trip in Nov 06:

• there was a librarian
  
• we met and got to know several dance hosts (nice gentlemen)

Did this happen recently?

[Sky Sweet]

It sounds as if Celebrity is trying to attract a very different demographic, but I am not sure why. At first they were just trying to expand it, but now it seems they are starting to phase out the traditional aspects of cruising that appeal to the baby boomer generation.

[kb4683]

probably went to a cheaper contract with the photographers.

 

...and the cost of pictures went up to $19.95 between our November cruise on Zenith and our January cruise on Century! :eek:

[C 2 C]

On my Summit trip in Nov 06:

• there was a librarian
  
• we met and got to know several dance hosts (nice gentlemen)

Did this happen recently?

 

Both are recent additions to the =X= Dodo exhibit.;)

[Cruise with the wind]

I'm hoping that someone at HQ actually believes that these changes will lead to a better image and better product.

I should have included an :rolleyes:... yeh, right.

My opinion of X is not the greatest right now...:(

 

C 2 C, I think that you are right when your said that Celebrity is morphing into an entirely different entity than what we all loved and came to expect from Celebrity. Another of the many cuts is the bridge lessons and organized bridge games are also history except on certain cruises. There have also been many glaring maintenance issues reported that Celebrity has chosen to just ignore. This morphing process also can be seen in the lack of any real interest in keeping the former loyal customer base of Celebrity, that has been established over the past years.

[C 2 C]

Another of the many cuts is the bridge lessons and organized bridge games are also history except on certain cruises.

 

Death by a thousand cuts.

 

On our Mercury canal cruise in December one cruiser told me he was really upset with the bridge lecture on board. It did not include a tour of the bridge.:cool:

[The Mommy]

I am crossing my fingers that the dance hosts will be on our Summit to Hawaii 28 April 2007, if not I will not be able to dance for the whole of the cruise!

[RLM77]

These changes certainly present the appearance of cost cutting. Personally, I doubt that there are any changes in the works to their target demographic. If there were, we would be hearing more "yes, we are scaling back on so-and-so, but we're adding such-and-such instead."

 

Cost cutting in ways that are highly visible to customers is risky. Although management can claim that eliminating items such as dance hosts and librarians are peripheral to most passengers, the same cannot be said about Chef Roux. We are embarking on Summit in four weeks; I will be interested to see if the food quality has changed in the four months since our last cruise. I do fear that without Roux to uphold standards X may turn to cheaper sources for its food supply. If they do so to a degree that is noticeable to their repeat passengers, that will hit their core product, which may not produce the results that they desire.

 

Arno, did you notice any changes in the Dining Room?

[dmk]

[quote name='RLM77;9004502

. We are embarking on Summit in four weeks; I will be interested to see if the food quality has changed in the four months since our last cruise. I do fear that without Roux to uphold standards X may turn to cheaper sources for its food supply. If they do so to a degree that is noticeable to their repeat passengers' date=' that will hit their core product, which may not produce the results that they desire.[/font']

 

Having just returned from a B2B on the Century, I am pleased to tell you that I found the quality of food greatly improved, from my cruise 6 months ago. I enjoyed all the foods I selected as did the 7 others at our table.

I was really impressed with the Beef choices. They were tender, done exactly to order, and easy to cut with a great steak knife

[WooKeef]

Having just returned from a B2B on the Century, I am pleased to tell you that I found the quality of food greatly improved, from my cruise 6 months ago. I enjoyed all the foods I selected as did the 7 others at our table.

I was really impressed with the Beef choices. They were tender, done exactly to order, and easy to cut with a great steak knife

 

Yes, I have heard ravings about the beef, I can't wait to partake being a carnivore and all:p . I was extremely dissappointed to find out that they replaced the T-pools with the lame "persian Gardens" it looks like a waste of space to me. What were they thinking...really! That was a way to make some money on the smaller vessels and I suppose the only optomistic way to look at is to know I am saving the money. Actually the realistic thing to say is that now I will spend more in the Aqua Spa which was their whole thinking to begin with:rolleyes:

[kitty9]

There were no dance hosts on our December Constellation cruise and none on our January 14 broken hip cruise on Millennium. I was told by the CC hostess that they terminated the contract with the company that employs the hosts and they will not be hiring dance hosts in the future.

[travelsfun]

Recently returned from Mercury sailing Mexican Riviera. There were no dance hosts but there was a librarian. Also no bridge instructor nor decent room in which to play bridge. Many complaints about this!

 

C 2 C....are you still winning all the trivia games? Sailed with you on Zenith, Jan. 2005 and remember you well!

Dorothy

[Desertbelle]

It sounds as if Celebrity is trying to attract a very different demographic, but I am not sure why. At first they were just trying to expand it, but now it seems they are starting to phase out the traditional aspects of cruising that appeal to the baby boomer generation.

 

I am in the baby boomer generation, 55 years old, for a few more months, :) and I have no need for a librarian, I bring my own books and would much prefer to listen to my digital books on my ipod. To me the Library is a lovely, quiet room where I can sit and enjoy the ocean from an inside area when I don't feel like sitting on my balcony or on deck.

 

I also have no need for a dance host, in fact, I find that most of the dance music and entertainment on my previous Celebrity cruises to be quite stuffy and old. Not at all Baby Boomer but geared more towards my parents age group. I see no reason to do away with ballroom dancing, it's lovely, but I don't see a reason to hire hosts.

 

My goodness, the comedian on our last cruise was a writer for Barney Miller, he was 80 years old if he was a day and was making Tonya Harding jokes. Would it really be horrible if they hired younger comedians that don't tell ship jokes (just how many times do we need to hear jokes about the ship toilets and how small everything is and how much walking there is???) but rather tell jokes that are current and adult?

 

I love Celebrity, but they need to seriously update. Though there are still many elderly people cruising, it is the baby boomers that are taking over as the largest age group of cruisers and we are going to be cruising for the next 30 years. I was raised with the Rolling Stones, George Carlin, Woodstock, Make Love not War!! I am not ready, nor will I ever be, to settle into the stereotype of old age. I feel young and I want to stay that way. I would love to see entertainment and activities that reflect my age, not people 20-30 years older than me.

 

My favorite parts about Celebrity is that they treat me wonderfully well, the food is excellent, and the ships are lovely, clean and well maintained. But, if the desire to be a cruise line that serves both me and my children and grandchildren (we often cruise together) they are going to need to get with it.

 

If any cruise line can pull this off.....keeping what we love about Celebrity there, while keeping their product fresh and modern....it will be Celebrity. At least, I hope it's Celebrity.

[Leela]

I am in the baby boomer generation, 55 years old, for a few more months, :) and I have no need for a librarian, I bring my own books and would much prefer to listen to my digital books on my ipod.

I am 41, and too young to be a Baby Boomer (the cut off was before I was born), but I love that there is a library on board with an actual librarian to keep things neat and organized. Sure, I could carry a stack of books on a cruise to read, but what with luggage restrictions being what they are it's great to have access to a library.

 

I also have no need for a dance host, in fact, I find that most of the dance music and entertainment on my previous Celebrity cruises to be quite stuffy and old. Not at all Baby Boomer but geared more towards my parents age group. I see no reason to do away with ballroom dancing, it's lovely, but I don't see a reason to hire hosts.

When I was married, my husband didn't know how to ballroom dance and didn't care to learn, so no matter if I cruised with him or not I had no one to dance with. I have been ballroom dancing for over 10 years now (socially and competitively), and if it weren't for the dance hosts I'd have no one to dance with at all on a cruise since it seems the vast majority of the gentlemen who do know how to dance are there with their wives and so wouldn't be dancing with me anyway. So, even though I'm a real young-un, I'm sorry to hear that the dance host program has gone away.

 

Would it really be horrible if they hired younger comedians that don't tell ship jokes (just how many times do we need to hear jokes about the ship toilets and how small everything is and how much walking there is???) but rather tell jokes that are current and adult?

I agree with you 100% on this one. And "adult" doesn't necessarily mean "dirty" either, it just means "appropriate to people over the age of 21 but not necessarily in their 70's!"

 

But, if the desire to be a cruise line that serves both me and my children and grandchildren (we often cruise together) they are going to need to get with it.

 

If any cruise line can pull this off.....keeping what we love about Celebrity there, while keeping their product fresh and modern....it will be Celebrity. At least, I hope it's Celebrity.

I've heard very good things along these lines about the Disney cruises, although I've never tried one and also would like there to be an alternative to the Disney mega-brand.

 

I was hoping that the Cirque du Soleli arrangements would have been a solution to this, but it seems it was mishandled and ended up being confusing and a disappointment. The original version of the "Bar at the Edge of the Earth" sounded fascinating to me, but I never got a chance to sail on a ship that had it and now that I am, it's been discontinued.

[C 2 C]

Arno, did you notice any changes in the Dining Room?

 

We found the food to be the same as on our October-November sailings. On the short B2B2B cruises we found the better choices available except for the Beef En dobe(?) which is as bad as beef gets. Personally I find food getting less important in our cruising choice because the special touches are no longer there. The choice of steamed vegetables can be taken only so long. I find the choices more limited than they used to be and desserts are easily skipped. We even went to the casual dining choice twice for a little variety as well as Murano's.

 

Desertbelle.. I think we're talking about two different cruise choices here. I'm glad the ships are large enough for both of our tastes because my tastes seem totally different than yours.

I want a cruiseline that does not cater to cruisers with their children and grandchildren, a cruiseline that provides books for readers who finish a book a day when cruising for 4 to 6 weeks at a time. When women continue to outlive men I think it's important to have hosts for solo cruisers, many of whom are paying 100% surcharges for the pleasure of cruising.

The day the Rolling Stones serenade me at breakfast is the day I'll stop eating...:eek:... I don't want that much satisfaction...

...and well-maintained ships??? are we talking about Celebrity here?

[C 2 C]

 

C 2 C....are you still winning all the trivia games? Sailed with you on Zenith, Jan. 2005 and remember you well!

Dorothy

 

Joanne and I still instill a number of groans when we walk into the quiz arena.:D Zenith always provided great and frequent opportunities for our trivia mania.

[motherchic]

My little two cents:

I loved watching the dance hosts and the woman dance. Always very charming. I will miss it...and though i never used the service I think it is a shame to have such a nice feature for woman who enjoy dancing taken away.

as far as the organized bridge tournaments being disbanded I guess that means i dont have a chance in hell to hope for a euchre group??!!??!!

Nadine

[sad mama]

I am in the baby boomer generation, 55 years old, for a few more months, and I have no need for a librarian, I bring my own books and would much prefer to listen to my digital books on my ipod. To me the Library is a lovely, quiet room where I can sit and enjoy the ocean from an inside area when I don't feel like sitting on my balcony or on deck.

 

I also have no need for a dance host, in fact, I find that most of the dance music and entertainment on my previous Celebrity cruises to be quite stuffy and old. Not at all Baby Boomer but geared more towards my parents age group. I see no reason to do away with ballroom dancing, it's lovely, but I don't see a reason to hire hosts.

 

My goodness, the comedian on our last cruise was a writer for Barney Miller, he was 80 years old if he was a day and was making Tonya Harding jokes. Would it really be horrible if they hired younger comedians that don't tell ship jokes (just how many times do we need to hear jokes about the ship toilets and how small everything is and how much walking there is???) but rather tell jokes that are current and adult?

 

I love Celebrity, but they need to seriously update. Though there are still many elderly people cruising, it is the baby boomers that are taking over as the largest age group of cruisers and we are going to be cruising for the next 30 years. I was raised with the Rolling Stones, George Carlin, Woodstock, Make Love not War!! I am not ready, nor will I ever be, to settle into the stereotype of old age. I feel young and I want to stay that way. I would love to see entertainment and activities that reflect my age, not people 20-30 years older than me.

 

My favorite parts about Celebrity is that they treat me wonderfully well, the food is excellent, and the ships are lovely, clean and well maintained. But, if the desire to be a cruise line that serves both me and my children and grandchildren (we often cruise together) they are going to need to get with it.

 

If any cruise line can pull this off.....keeping what we love about Celebrity there, while keeping their product fresh and modern....it will be Celebrity. At least, I hope it's Celebrity.

 

Seems to be a rather selfish all about me attitude with very little respect for the wishes of others. Take away the tradition and you are left with any of the other mass market lines. If Celebrity turns into that you will only have yourself to thank. I don't think that many baby boomers share your ideals on this.

[SusieV]

Not to mention, that just because you are young doesn't mean you can't want to partake in these activities!

 

My husband and I are in our mid twenties, and we definitely use the facilities such as the library and the cardrooms. We think a librarian is a necessity to make sure that books are returned- otherwise where is the accountability?

 

As for the dance hosts, I do cruise with my husband but he doesn't like to dance at all. I haven't yet partaken of the dance host program but would like to at least have the option, whether it was marketed for people like me or not.

 

As for bridge instruction, we personally don't need it (we've actually considered applying for the teaching jobs as we're both qualified instructors) but we don't see why something that is important to so many people should be made unavailable.

 

To us, Celebrity is the cruiseline with the dozens of little touches that just make your vacation seem like so much more. Getting rid of the little things is really going to take away that wonderful feeling of having everything taken care of.

 

And we agree; we don't want Celebrity to be another line catering to families and people with children. There are already so many lines for families. What's wrong with having one line that preserves the integrity of formal nights and the classic touches of cruising like traditional dining, and all the little extras that keep people coming back to Celebrity?