Celebrity Cruise Help needed

[dmb814]

Good Morning,

 

I'm enrolled in a marketing class in college and have to do a presentation for a large scale company. I have picked Celebrity cruiselines(I have a cruise to Greece planned for October).

 

What I need is feedback from different indiviuals telling me why you picked the cruise you did and what it is that makes that cruise line special.

 

I would really appreciate any feedback, people can give me.

 

Thank You in advance,

 

Diane

[Beaniemom59]

Good luck on your marketing project. My husband and I are scheduled on our second Celebrity cruise in August to Northern Europe and the Baltics. My husband is 59 and I am 48. We enjoy the interaction with other people our age. We enjoy the peacefulness of the cruiseline and the elegance. We actually love the pampering that you receive from Celebrity. We get a Sky Suite which comes with a Butler -- something we definitely do not have at home although wish I did! We love our children and grandchildren very much but when we go on a cruise it is for us and we enjoy Celebrity for its mature age participants. We also enjoy the formality of the formal nights and informal nights as where we are from there are not many occasions (maybe a Christmas party or wedding) where we can really dress up. Enjoy your cruise! We have found it is very relaxing and fun. We spend months pouring over brochures, travel guides, and the Cruise Critic boards to gleen all the information that we can prior to departing.

[Angiebear]

Diane

What an intersting marketing project. You might consider doing a poll type question as you will get more concise answers that fit into neat categories. But here goes my response: My husband (40 yrs old) myself(50 yrs od) and our Daughter(9yrs old), are sailing on Celebrity for the first time this summer. We have cruised previously with Norwegian Cruise Line (which is more in line with our likes and interests with regard to anytime dining, a variety of ages on board as well as a more relaxed dress code), but selected Celebrity this time solely because of their fantastic itinerary. The itinerary we selected was to exactly to the places we wanted to go in Italy, Greece and Turkey and the time spent in each port was also very good as compared to other lines. The only other cruise line that came close to this itinerary was Princess. The reason that I did not select the Princess cruise was because it was a bit more expensive, flight days/times and other costs. I have read so many wonderful things about Celebrity on this board so I knew that even though our preferences are not exactly what Celebrity offers that our cruise is going to be fantastic. Plus because it is a Mediterranean Cruise and is so port intensive some of the things that I would prefer if i was going on a Caribbean adventure will not matter. Good Luck on your study.

Regards

Angela

[larronry]

This is the second time my husband and I are going on Celebrity and we are going because we like to be pampered. We liked the extra mile that the staff takes. Our last cruise was on Princess and the cabin steward was probably comparable, but the anytime dining meant that my vegetarian dining wouldn't be catered to. Celebrity offered every night to let me look at the next nights menu and if I didn't like something they would make something special. I could always find something on the menu but it was nice to know that option was there. It turned out that the Italian Chef was Indian so he would make me up special vegetarian Indian dishes. Now obviously that part I don't expect this time, but no other ship ever let me look at a menu of the next nights dinner (Carnival, NCL, Princess) except Celebrity and my mother was able to on Holland America. So to me that is certainly a plus. Any time dining can be a plus but a different server every night means they don't get to know your likes and dislikes. Also since I will be with my son I also find that to be a plus. I am not a formal type of person but will be more formal for Celebrity. I enjoyed being formal until being a mom.

[beauxdammit]

Good luck with your presentation.

 

Most respondents, I think, will speak in positive tones. I will try to tell you what isn't there and therefore makes Celebrity attractive to BW and me.

 

1. Lack of continuous, repetitive public announcements. Appropriate information is available to anyone willing to make a little effort.

 

2. Celebrity is not as of yet a family oriented cruise line. Therefore fewer ill-behaved, unsupervised children making a mess of the experience.

 

3. Available activities are generally presented at a level above the adolescent. Consequently, no hairy leg contests, etc.

 

4. Available dining venues are at a level above the MacDonald level. Dress is more "formal";, at least at dinner.

 

5. Ships are not decorated like an amusement park fun house. Surroundings are more sedate and calming.

 

6. Service staff are not beginners. For the most part they have worked their way up over several years, mostly spent on Celebrity ships.

 

Hopes this helps and also gives you some reassurance about your Greek Islands cruise later this year.

[Cruise Gypsy]

I think the previous posters do a great job of explaining why people love Celebrity.

 

I don't know if part of you project will included review marketing materials and commercials that Celebrity produces to convey their identity to cruisers. As most of us know each cruise line has a different personality and thus target different cruisers.

 

I remember we first started looking at Celebrity about 7-8 years ago and that was when they were doing the commercials with the people in the white T-shirts with black lettering Celebrity on them. I didn't get it:confused: and I think it was a huge mistake not to show the beautiful ships.

 

Then they went to the commercials about the people walking through their normal work day talking being treated like royalty on Celebrity. I think service is one of Celebrity's strongest areas.

 

I did like the scene with the guy trying to close the broken mini blinds in his office saying "I consider this a temporary exile". We had been on a few Celebrity cruises and I think it did trigger a good memory of our time on Celebrity and I did like it better than the T-Shirt People. But still not much of the ships themselves.

 

Anyway, I am not sure if they have changed their ad campaign but it is something to look at while doing your project:)

[ronjj66611]

Location, Location, Location:D

 

This will be our first Celebrity cruise so I cant' honestly answer what makes Celebrity special to us. But the reason we picked it was because, like the previous posters mentioned, the itinerary.

 

We love the Med, and having been there on our honeymoon in '95, we wanted to take our DD there so she could enjoy it as well. Having been on a couple of Princess ships as well as a Carnival ship, we are looking forward to a more upscale line with an emphasis on service.

 

Plus, with only 1800 passengers, the Galaxy is not a floating city like some of the others we've been on. Also, I'm looking forward to getting away from the all day/night party crowds you get on some ships.

 

Good luck on your project and have a great cruise in October.

[If only]

We have been on 23 Celebrity cruises & also on Norweign, Princess &

Carnival. In a nutshell what makes them so special is that everyone on board treats you like your a somebody, whether or not you are in a Sky Suite or an inside cabin. We have tried them all. I guess if service was bad we would change but its always great. Don't get me wrong there are little things that change from cruise to cruise but generally it's the service that makes the cruise.:)

[Pat.bz]

We have been on 23 Celebrity cruises & also on Norweign, Princess &

Carnival. In a nutshell what makes them so special is that everyone on board treats you like your a somebody, whether or not you are in a Sky Suite or an inside cabin. We have tried them all. I guess if service was bad we would change but its always great. Don't get me wrong there are little things that change from cruise to cruise but generally it's the service that makes the cruise.:)

 

I've cruised Cunard, Carnival, RC, Princess and Celebrity. We like Celebrity the best for ALL reasons stated above and therefor 5 of our next 6 cruises are with this line (the other is with Princess)--all of these cruise are 2 weeks each. Good luck with your project

[mithryl]

We're trying Celebrity for the first time in October, primarily because we have heard such good things about them. We've chosen a short 4 day cruise to try them out. We have enjoyed most of our experiences on other lines (Princess, RCCL and HAL). Celebrities pricing is higher, so we're about to find out if it will be worth it, to book a longer (10+ day) cruise.

There are options that other cruiselines offer that Celebrity doesn't (24 hour buffets, anytime dining, etc.) that we really enjoy, so we'll have to see if the more rigid dining schedule will work for us.

[MBZ Girl]

If I may add to the already glowing reviews! We have cruised RCCL but choose Celebrity for the more formal atmosphere, the elegance of the ships and the less pax, the overall experience I guess is what I really want to say!!!! Celebrity is a fit for us, it certainly is not for everyone! We found it quite by accident and have not strayed yet---we've LOOKED, but we have not strayed!!!!!:D

[Ships R Great]

Hi, Diane.

My family's experiences with Celebrity go back to the 70s and 80s, when my mother sailed often on the Chandris ships. I think the personality of Celebrity has been due to the Greek influence. Unfortunately, that is gradually being diluted as new officers are more international. But the charm and ambiance of X ships cannot be matched on other lines, for all the reasons stated in previous posts.

Patty

[hajekfam]

Unlike other cruisers, we actually picked the cruiseline first - must be Celebrity, of course - then looked at itinerary and pricing. Our very first travel agent interviewed us on our likes and dislikes when we decided to cruise for the first time. Based on our answers, he recommended this fairly new (at that time) cruiseline -Celebrity - that he thought would suit us and our tastes. We went on the Zenith in its inauguaral year and loved it. Celebrity was a perfect match for us. Since then, we have only cruised Celebrity. We used to pick a cruise for the ports, but now we usually book for the number of sea days and cost per day. The ports are extra. We book a transatlantic every other year (odd years) as a restful and relaxing cruise and a chance to enjoy the ship's amenities. This year to celebrate both of our retirements, we added the Med cruise right before as a back to back with our trans because of the ports.

What makes Celebrity special? We cruise Celebrity and feel it is special because it makes us feel special:

the welcome aboard glass of champagne;

the lack of announcements;

the outstanding service;

the cold, damp towels handed out to refresh when coming back from an excursion;

the courteous but not overly in your face freindly crew;

the dress codes (having 3 makes the cruise feel the cruise is an event);

the assigned dining with the same waiters that after the first night or two know your names and likes and dislikes and have your coffee or tea in front of you as soon as you sit down;

waiters in the lounges that you frequent knowing that you have the soda card and you order a glass of soda and a glass of water and bring it as soon as you sit down;

all the little quiet nooks for quiet time- the space per passenger ratio;

the carafe of water and ice bucket in the room that the steward keeps full;

buffet served on real china with trays and waiters who will carry your tray to a table;

the room steward that gives you a whole pile of the turn-down chocolates when you happen to mention that you like a particular one;

I could keep going on and on about all the reasons that Celebrity makes me feel special which in turn makes Celebrity special.

[RLM77]

Rich and I, 49 and 51 respectively, started out cruising on Radisson Seven Seas, now Regent. We chose that cruise line at that time because of the cabin size, tips included pricing and wine poured as part of the dinner service which did not include assigned seating.

 

Regent went to an all inclusive cruising format which was just too pricey for us.

 

Celebrity seemed to be the closest to Regent, given the ratings in various travel books dealing with cruising and the rankings/awards it has received in publications such as Conde Nast Traveler. Culinary levels and service appeared to approach those of Regent at a price point we could afford, without giving up all the luxury touches. We have now sailed on Celebrity 3 times, with 4 more scheduled. I think you can safely say we are pleased with our choice.

 

The specific cruises we book on X are driven primarily by Rich's work and vacation schedules and my disability. I have multiple sclerosis, and we try to pick itineraries which visit areas which are relatively accessible to me.

 

Good luck with your assignment and enjoy Greece!

 

Marlee

[lipping larry]

i would get on celebrity's web site and order brouchures. also contact piblic relations...they probably have tons of material...i would also ask if they can send you a tape about cruising. a lot of the things we like about celebrity have been memtioned. good luck.:)

[dmb814]

I would like to Thank You for the responses that you have posted. It was very very helpful.

 

Again Thank You

 

Diane.

 

Hope to see you soon on a cruise. I leave on October 11,2007 for Greece