Celebrity gossip, third hand

[cinnamon]

We are just off the Connie. We got to know a young couple who are not regular =X= cruisers who had Casual Dinner one evening. On the next table were the Hotel Director and what appeared to be a senior executive. They were overheard discussing the future of cruising. They expressed concerns for several things.

 

The age profile. They felt that many older cruisers would stop cruising soon and therefore =X= needed to attract a younger crowd.

 

The exchange rates. They were concerned that US cruisers would find it hard to keep cruising if the dollar stayed weak against the Euro and GB Pound.

 

They discussed bringing in some form of Personal Choice or Freestyle dining, probably beginning on the route to the Mexican Riviera.

 

All this may have been covered here but I think it interesting that they were prepared to chat about it where they could be easily overheard by passengers.

[Lois R]

Quote:

"They discussed bringing in some form of Personal Choice or Freestyle dining, probably beginning on the route to the Mexican Riviera."

 

I may be waaaayyyy off base but Celebrity isn't doing the

Mexican Riveria anymore:eek:...are they?:confused:

[JanineM]

Well, I don't know if their comments are really much of a surprise. The cruise lines seem to be working hard to attract a younger demographic ... here in the States the television ads feature people in their 30s and 40s. They also advertise heavily on morning news programs, which seem to be geared to those who are working during the day.

 

We live in a part of Florida that attracts a lot of tourists, and there seems to be constant discussion about the state of the US dollar. As we base our decisions on the US $, cruising through Europe is attractive because we don't have to pay for hotels and meals onshore. However, we have to get there, and with the price of airfare going up every day, we're certainly having second thoughts.

 

So I guess the same topic has been discussed at many staff tables over the past many months.

[cruisePRN]

The cruise lines need to take most of the blame for declining profits. They built more and more ships getting bigger and bigger and saturated some markets and now they can't fill their ships DUH :o

[Lsimon]

...The age profile. They felt that many older cruisers would stop cruising soon and therefore =X= needed to attract a younger crowd....

 

Younger could mean a lot of things - but in any event they could certainly start with the entertainment. We've taken quite a few Celebrity cruises the past few years, and even in our early 50's, much of the entertainment seemed targeted at a more mature crowd overall. Noticeable exceptions were our Galaxy Caribbean cruises this past year and the year before. These had some decent Caribbean party bands, and a guitar player or two, who could rock a little and sounded decent. But on our other Celebrity cruises from 2006 onward the lounge entertainment was terrible and/or targeted at an older audience.

[pattycakes]

I'll second that on the entertainment -- the bands play the same songs over and over again and on one cruise the dj's ipod broke -- can you say: are you kidding me? no backup? maybe they could split the shows to make the late dining entertainment more up to date so as to not upset the older crowd. probably not a real feasible idea, but nevertheless the "entertainment" is pretty hokey, just like that commercial with the woman on the stairs with the fake award speech -- not really going to pull in the 30s and 40s crowd.

 

They could also make a big deal of the "no announcement" policy. Aside from the service, that's one of the reasons why they're my first choice -- well that and the limited "I'm cattle" atmosphere. The average age can be a factor at times, but most of their more worldly repeaters wind up being a total hoot!

 

And they could take the dining room food back up a notch :)

[aaklang]

Pattycakes, I agree about the food! We cruised on Millennium two years ago and loved the food...couldn't stop thinking about it. So we had high hopes when we boarded Infinity a couple of weeks ago and were quite disappointed. We felt the buffet was pretty much the same but that the dinners were much better back when Michael Roux was in charge.

 

I also second the thoughts on entertainment. We felt like there wasn't really anything to do in the evenings, short of sitting in a lounge and listening to music. Would love if Celebrity offered something a little more active.

[pattycakes]

true. but in 2001 and 2002 I was even more impressed, even though the repeaters insisted that it was going down even back then!

 

I happen to not be a fan of freestyle dining. I tend to think that i'm invited to dine at either 6:30 or 8:30 and if i choose not to, then i can fully partake of the other options. I think freestyle lacks continuinity, so if anything I would rather see a 7:30 seating added, with the 6:30 becoming family and early diners and dining room split.

 

absolutely agree that there are too many dead spots entertainment wise in the evenings. the only time i saw the lounges jumping in the evening was with the pianist (Lucerne or Luciano).

[jt1120]

Just don't mess with formal nights. That's one thing that younger people need to learn to appreciate (and participate in). Sorry if I sound like a 44-year-old fuddy duddy.

[world~citizen]

Its almost as if Chef Roux was a secret weapon of Celebrity. Now he is gone. Its no small thing. The Roux brothers have a terrific reputation in Europe. The BEST chefs trained under them. X may not score that big again.

 

I hope X can get its act together. The new ships are promising, but I can't believe the uninspired maiden voyage they set for the Solstice. The major problem I have had with X is its uninspired itineraries. Seems like more of the same.

 

I think its not so much that X offers a bad product, it offers an uneven product. Reviews swing wildly from cruise to cruise and ship to ship. On our last cruise, the quality of the food varied from one side of the dining room to the other...no explanation for it.

 

I have high hopes that X can be restored to its old glory.

[pattycakes]

I have high hopes that X can be restored to its old glory.

 

tht would be sweet, but that's up to you-know-who and i don't see that happening; I'm pretty much convinced that those other boys will never treat Celebrity as anything other than competition or the red-headed stepchild (no offense to redheads or stepchildren)

[world~citizen]

tht would be sweet, but that's up to you-know-who and i don't see that happening; I'm pretty much convinced that those other boys will never treat Celebrity as anything other than competition or the red-headed stepchild (no offense to redheads or stepchildren)

 

Reviews seem to be reporting improvements in the food department recently.

 

As for the red-headed stepchild thing, I have always felt that RCL failed to respect the X brand as much as its passengers do. Often when you phone, they answer as RCL, and email addresses are the same. When I asked for an alternative itinerary to an X cruise, they offered RCL cruises...not what I meant.

 

After leaving X in the wilderness for years, I must say I was shocked by the newbuild program. I really believed RCL was going to discontinue X. Still, Galaxy is being hived off to the TUI joint venture. Why didn't RCL dump one of their older ships? Galaxy has a special place among X devotees.

 

Red-headed stepchild. Good analogy.

[Sky Sweet]

true. but in 2001 and 2002 I was even more impressed, even though the repeaters insisted that it was going down even back then!

 

I happen to not be a fan of freestyle dining. I tend to think that i'm invited to dine at either 6:30 or 8:30 and if i choose not to, then i can fully partake of the other options. I think freestyle lacks continuinity, so if anything I would rather see a 7:30 seating added, with the 6:30 becoming family and early diners and dining room split.

 

absolutely agree that there are too many dead spots entertainment wise in the evenings. the only time i saw the lounges jumping in the evening was with the pianist (Lucerne or Luciano).

 

Hi pattycakes :)

 

I agree that Celebrity was more impressive in 2001 than it is today, but there is a very good reason. When we sailed to Alaska on Inifinity during the summer of 2001 its per diem rates were higher than any current per diem rate on Celebrity, and that includes its European Cruises.

 

At that time Celebrity offered the perfect bridge between other mass market cruise lines that cost less and the luxury cruise lines that were considerably more expensive. That is why passengers didn't mind paying a little more than they would for another mass market cruise line because they got a lot more, which made it a good value.

 

Now that Celebrity's prices are frequently lower than other mass market cruise lines, it is unrealistic to expect the same product they had when they were more expensive.

 

I also think at this point in time Celebrity would need a marketing genius if they wanted to elevate its product to what it was in the past, and charge accordingly, because Celebrity currently has a reputation for being one of the most affordable cruise lines. When Celebrity made the decision to focus on price instead of quality they lost part of their traditional client base and replaced it with people who are more concerned with price than quality.

 

At the same time it is not impossible. I remember when Macy's was a very mediocre store and then they decided to improve their product and market it as a west side Bloomingdale's. While it took a marketing genius to do that, it worked :)

[pattycakes]

i'd rather pay more and have it back to being a little more special than the masses without being elite. i can get mass market up the wazoo. To me Celebrity's product has been losing its definition. it's becoming RCCL with older passengers, dull entertainment and a little more leg room.

 

I agree they need some new blood in their marketing but will they get the budget or the talent to really carry it off? probably not. :(

[Cooks_Bay]

Just don't mess with formal nights. That's one thing that younger people need to learn to appreciate (and participate in). Sorry if I sound like a 44-year-old fuddy duddy.

 

I think that if the intent is to attract the young, then this is something that you will see decrease or go away all together over time. People don't go on vacation to "learn to appreciate", they will choose what fits their lifestyle. It doesn't mean dressing like a slob, but I think "County Club Casual" is the wave of the future along with "freestyle dining". Given the fact the NCL is building 3 new ships specificly configured for freestyle dining speaks volumes. This type layout is similar to land based all-inclusives..ie Club Med, Sandels, Beaches. These all attract a young crowd, and I think they view those type of resorts as a potential scource to grow their customer base. The future for the industry is to attract the young. Getting them early, which results in a greater number of repeat sailings.

[pattycakes]

just out of curiousity, what is considered "young"? when i think young i think 20s, but I have a feeling that young might be a little older in terms of cruise ship clientele.

[world~citizen]

just out of curiousity, what is considered "young"? when i think young i think 20s, but I have a feeling that young might be a little older in terms of cruise ship clientele.

 

LOL. I was 40 when I sailed my first HAL cruise. I was the youngest passenger on board. If I wore black dockers and a polo shirt, everyone thought I worked in the shore excursion department. :eek:

 

Yes, young is relative.

[Sky Sweet]

LOL. I was 40 when I sailed my first HAL cruise. I was the youngest passenger on board. If I wore black dockers and a polo shirt, everyone thought I worked in the shore excursion department. :eek:

 

Yes, young is relative.

 

Hi world citizen :)

 

Your comment about young being relative made me LOL because it conjured up images of our first cruise. At the time I was in my middle twenties and my husband and I often talked about the nice old couple who were our tablemates.

 

That nice "old couple" were probably in their forties at the time, which is considerably younger than we are today...LOl :)

[pattycakes]

I was in my 40s! I always watched them sail out of NY in the summer but never in a million years thought I would enjoy it. And quite honestly, I so enjoyed that experience that I want to continue to by having something just a little special and not 100% mass market or humongous. I want to dance and laugh to the wee hours of the morning but I sure as hell don't want to hear the bingo announcements the next day, well maybe on the last day and it's jackpot time.;)

[hcat]

younger & livelier is fine as long as the elegance is retained...lately on Royal carib cruises you see sleeveless T shirts in the buffet & other apparel that should be worn at home for washing the car! Hope this does not spill over to Celebrity....

[cruisintwinsmom]

Just don't mess with formal nights. That's one thing that younger people need to learn to appreciate (and participate in). Sorry if I sound like a 44-year-old fuddy duddy.

 

 

No fuddy duddy to me. Even my DDs20 said they like to dress up for formal night...they even commented that they liked dressing up more for casual nights on X (as compared to RCCL). It gives the cruise a more "special", for lack of a better word, feel.

[world~citizen]

No fuddy duddy to me. Even my DDs20 said they like to dress up for formal night...they even commented that they liked dressing up more for casual nights on X (as compared to RCCL). It gives the cruise a more "special", for lack of a better word, feel.

 

As far as we are concerned, formal nights help to define X. We enjoy them.

[oneadam12]

Couldn't agree more, we enjoy formal nights on a cruise. In April, we took the grandkids (ages 8, 11 & 13) on a cruise. When we asked them 'what was the best thing that you enjoyed about this cruise'; they said dressing up for dinner!

 

As far as what is young, I think that it has more to do with attitude and less to do with number of years. My 87 yr. old mother will be touring China this Fall, she acts like she is 30. But I've seen 50 yr. olds act like their 87:p.

[Toothfairy754]

true. but in 2001 and 2002 I was even more impressed, even though the repeaters insisted that it was going down even back then!

 

I happen to not be a fan of freestyle dining. I tend to think that i'm invited to dine at either 6:30 or 8:30 and if i choose not to, then i can fully partake of the other options. I think freestyle lacks continuinity, so if anything I would rather see a 7:30 seating added, with the 6:30 becoming family and early diners and dining room split.

 

absolutely agree that there are too many dead spots entertainment wise in the evenings. the only time i saw the lounges jumping in the evening was with the pianist (Lucerne or Luciano).

 

I agree that freestyle is not my cup of tea. I ended up missing things I wanted to do. My kids talked me into it and I found I missed the formal nights and dining with other cruisemates. I will not sail NCL again. I am taking my grown children on X next year so they can see what real cruising is about.

I truly hope they don't get rid of the formal dining as it is a good lesson for everyone. My children were raised eating dinner at the dining room table every night so at least they will know what silverware to use.

[travelbug11]

RCCL is already starting it this year, so X will surely follow:(