MACruisers

On the Ascent doing a B2B. The Butler was back from day one with excellent service. Exactly as we have experienced in the past.

Thank you for doing this, I’ll be following along. Boarding Ascent on Feb 25th for a B2B in a SS. Curious to hear your thoughts on the reported changes.

I’m sorry, but $19 a glass for Cherry Tart is absolutely ridiculous! That stuff is so terrible, on day one, after all of the pleasantries we tell the sommelier that we do not want Cherry Tart ever. I remember on one trip our friends ordered it (we ordered something else because we hate it) and after one sip she looked at us and said “this is terrible!” We said “yeah, we know”. ‘Then why did you let ME order it?” We replied “you never know, you may have liked it”. Clearly we were wrong. 😂 I wouldn’t drink that stuff it were free never mind a $2 up charge per glass.

I have 4 Sky suites booked on the Ascent ( a B2B in Feb/March of 2024) and a B2B on Ascent (Feb/March of 2025). I will enjoy the cruise and make a fair assessment of the “Enhancements”. Like the previous poster, I am Elite plus and have always cruised in a Sky Suite (M, S, & E class). Sky suites are the perfect room for us and don’t really feel the need to book a larger suite. It appears Celebrity is trying to encourage customers to book UP if they want the same amenities they have been paying for. I don’t like that Celebrity changed the product after they sold it, or that they are trying to sell it off as an enhancement. That said, I will reserve final judgement until I actually experience the product, enjoy my vacation either way, express my opinion to the appropriate people on board and on the survey and finally decide with my feet and wallet if necessary. The suites are booking as they noted in the response, they won’t miss me (YET). And another line may be happy to take my business.

But according to the new President of Celebrity, this new “Butler” team will enhance service and be better for the guests. I know she was recently on board one of the ships, she should have stayed in a Sky Suite to see how the experience has been downgraded under her “leadership”.

Today, the “Black Friday” sale price for Eden is $77.99 USD. 8% off of the $85.00 per person price. Absolutely ridiculous! I realize Celebrity is a business and is carrying a lot of debt, but you can’t get to profitability by lowering services and gouging your customers with price increases. Those actions very quickly drive customers away.

At the end of September, I booked Eden for my February sailing on Ascent for $54.99 per person.

Love your reviews and looking forward to following along. Especially interested in your Sky Suite experience comparison. I did a B2B on Beyond and have a B2B on Ascent book for Feb/March. Both were in a Sky Suite.

I have 4 cruises booked on Ascent in suites. When I board, I always know what future cruise I will be booking. I have spent the last several weeks looking at MSC YC, and several other premium lines (not silver seas). If Celebrity is looking for ways to push customers away they have certainly discovered the secret sauce. I realize Celebrity and RCG is a business and like other hospitality businesses was saddled with debt during the pandemic. The solution is NOT to raise prices and reduce value. The solution IS to keep your loyal customer, increase prices and show them your value. CFO’s have no business running a company, they don’t understand customers, customer behavior and that it is MORE expensive to attract new customers than it is to retain your current customers. I loved you Celebrity up until now but it appears to be time to move on after these cruises UNLESS you wake up and respect that customer want value for their money.

The new CEO is just BEGGING their customer abandon ship. I have 4 grandfathered cruises booked in suites (Which will take me to 50 cruises) but will be looking strongly at other options. MSC YC looks attractive as well several other alternatives. Oh LLP how we miss ye!

Here is a live trip report about the YC experience on MSC. GenX is a loyal X cruiser and this report has me seriously looking at the YC. BTW GenX’s reports are a great read, entertaining, informative and fun.

As a long time Celebrity Suite cruiser, I am also looking at other options. In the past, I have been very pleased with the Celebrity product both pre “retreat” and post. As a consumer I understand Celebrity is a business and suffered tremendous losses during the pandemic. That said, there is only so many price increases and quality/service cuts you can pass on to a consumer before they start looking for value for their money. I’ve only ever cruised with RCG brands (RCI and X), and I still have 4 cruises booked with Celebrity in Suites and I am holding judgement until I experience my next cruise with Celebrity. The info on this board and put out by Celebrity has raised my level of concern enough to explore other brands.

Followed your travel adventure, glad you made it to the ship. Interesting that Apex still has the original day 1 lunch menu. Beyond has the new me use and the lobster roll is no longer serve red on boarding day, but was moved to the last day.

I’ve followed along on all of your live threads. I really enjoy them. I’m usually a lurker, but you mentioned you had Elaine as your butler. Elaine was our butler on our back to back. She is amazing and will take care of you. Please tell her Sir Lester and Sir Christopher <as she called us> with the cat pictures) said hello. You are so lucky to have her.

We did a B2B the last week of Feb and the first week of March. We sat in the forward section of Luminea and Adash was our waiter. He took great care of us, shared great stories and we are still talking about his incredible service. If you see him, tell him Les and Chris say Hi!