Celebrity Has No New Ships Ordered?

I think the fleet size is perfect....would like to see more 10 day itinsand a few new ports.

...I know more and more people who were diehard fans of Celebrity have become increasingly disenchanted with this company....

 

....that between the non-existent orders as well as reductions in service and general satisfaction, Celebrity could be on a downward spiral (i'd mentioned this once before), and perhaps RCI will eventually close them down! It's part of a vicious cycle....poorer service, reduced satisfaction, fewer bookings, less income, reduce service (costs) some more, leading to reduced satisfaction to the point where bookings eventually fall off to the point where the company is no longer viable.

Well, you are just plain wrong. Based on another thread today, Celebrity seems to be doing just fine: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2073616

And a cruise I have booked for next February is virtually sold out as well, with prices having only gone up - had not gone down even once - on all categories of staterooms on that sailing.

Reminds me of that well know quote by Mark Twain: "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

.

What ships would you think Celebrity would retire? M class ships?

Hi Sam,

My hope is that Celebrity doesn't retire any ships (other than Century) for a long time to come. Even if Celebrity were to order new ships, I dont see any reason why the M-Class cant enjoy another 10 years of service. As long as they are well maintained, and some enhancements are made every few years ? I'd be perfectly happy to continue sailing on them.

Well, you are just plain wrong.

 

Reminds me of that well known quote by Mark Twain: "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."

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Or Yogi Berra's:

"Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

RCI stock seems to be doing better than CCL stock. That tells me they are in good shape. Follow the money.

It actually might be a good business plan to have a hiatus on ship building. The cruise market is somewhat saturated (at the moment) and X is doing quite fine. RCI is building another monster ship, which does put a financial strain on Corporate. And the implementation of low sulphur fuel standards in the US are adding to the costs of operating ships. RCI has done a great job modernizing and expanding X ( since acquiring the company) and it just might be time to,slow down, pay down long term debt, and reap,the profits.

Hank

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Really? I went on the best cruise ever a few weeks ago...on Celebrity! If there were less staff, it wasn't noticable at all, as service was great. The only downward spiral that I have noticed is the fun of reading the Cruise Critic boards...the negativity lately is awful!

Boy, I agree with this 500%!!!! The negativity, as witnessed by this "THE SKY IS FALLING" post, has gotten to be overwhelming. We have had a great time every single time we've been on an X ship, and there has been NO noticeable lack of service, quality, and whatever else the whiners are getting on about. The 15 nights we spent on Silhouette a few months ago were the best ever--and I have been sailing celebrity since 1995!!

Enough already!!!

RCI stock seems to be doing better than CCL stock. That tells me they are in good shape. Follow the money.

That is no indication of bottom line

I think the fleet size is perfect....would like to see more 10 day itinsand a few new ports.

I agree. I think the X fleet is currently at the perfect size. I would rather see X concentrate on keeping quality up and focus on training of personnel. There is going to come a time that they will start to think about replacing the Millie class but who knows how long X plans to keep those ships.

:)

 

I am however trying to find a 7 day cruise in the last two weeks of April next year and I have 1 option! So maybe instead of new ships, they could diversify their itineraries a titch :)

I would like to see X switch up ships. Why not take an S class and switch it with the Summit? During the winter you basically have the Silhouette and Reflection both doing the same routes out of south Florida. Change them up. It would also be nice to have an S class to Bermuda. I guess we all have our own personal wishes. They can't please us all. :)

You think that adding new ships which would dilute the staff pool with newbies would increase service on existing ships? hmmmm

 

I think Celebrity has a nice size fleet right now, which is probably the newest fleet of all cruise lines.

Agreed.....:):):)

Bob

Boy, I agree with this 500%!!!! The negativity, as witnessed by this "THE SKY IS FALLING" post, has gotten to be overwhelming. We have had a great time every single time we've been on an X ship, and there has been NO noticeable lack of service, quality, and whatever else the whiners are getting on about. The 15 nights we spent on Silhouette a few months ago were the best ever--and I have been sailing celebrity since 1995!!

 

Enough already!!!

I didn't know that expressing one's opinion was whining?

Bob

I would like to see X switch up ships. Why not take an S class and switch it with the Summit? During the winter you basically have the Silhouette and Reflection both doing the same routes out of south Florida. Change them up. It would also be nice to have an S class to Bermuda. I guess we all have our own personal wishes. They can't please us all. :)

I would be all over an S class to Bermuda. I just want a little 7 day cruise in late April....sob, sob, sob ;). It's looking more and more like a land trip for us

I would be all over an S class to Bermuda. I just want a little 7 day cruise in late April....sob, sob, sob ;). It's looking more and more like a land trip for us

I agree. We are flying to Positano for a week next May due to the limited options available during that time. We now cruise spring and fall. :)

My family all enjoyed our trip in June so much that I booked three rooms for new years 2015/2016. This was with two young people who said "I never want to take another cruise again" after the one we took on Carnival in 2010. They now have two young adults (currently 18 and 20) as fans. Especially the one currently 20 - they took incredible care of her, food allergies, wheel chair, and all. She is looking forward to being 21, having a beverage package, and trying out the menu at the martini bar in Dec 2015.

As for activities staff, I plan to wait and see. The port intensive cruises in the Med are a very different cruise from the relaxed ones in the Caribbean. On the other hand, DH and I make our own fun when we cruise, and really don't participate in all that many of the planned activities. I saw the same in February on Equinox, when only 2 tables showed up for trivia a number of times, and they were practically begging people in the area to participate. All of the sun beds were, however, full of people napping and reading. Maybe there is a reason for the reduction in staff?

I agree. We are flying to Positano for a week next May due to the limited options available during that time. We now cruise spring and fall. :)

Positano! Nice. We may do that in 2016.

I heard a rumor today that they have plans to order a new ship and have it delivered by 2018.

I heard a rumor today that they have plans to order a new ship and have it delivered by 2018.

You never know, but unless you heard it from Mike Bayley or a member of the Board of Directors of RCCL I wouldn't put much credence in a rumor, but your guess is as good as anyones

Positano! Nice. We may do that in 2016.

That is a very sound decision. Positano is one of my favorite places visited while sailing my four T/A's. If I ever did a land trip in the area, I'd be a regular at La Tagliata.....:):):)

Bob

You think that adding new ships which would dilute the staff pool with newbies would increase service on existing ships? hmmmm

 

I think Celebrity has a nice size fleet right now, which is probably the newest fleet of all cruise lines.

Good point. If service is poor now (not my statement), then adding more ships would logically just increase the poor service over a larger number of ships.

On another point, Celebrity is presumably making lots of money. I think you can look to 2 metrics:

1) bookings - are they strong/on target based on days to sailing that Celebrity is okay with. If not, I think you would see selective discounting to get the cabin sales to where they should be at a particular point prior to sailing. I am sure they use sophisticated algorithms to know what to do.

2) net operating profits - are they rising (on absolute basis and percent of sales basis)? If so, then in combined with #1, I am not sure Celebrity would agree with the poor service assessment and their demise.

When I was on the Milli last month (Alaska cruise) at the, I think it was a captains club event, the captain said new ships are coming. He didn't give any date or anything so I guess it doesn't really mean much because he never said 'when', LOL!

I have to say I'm always surprised when I read threads about how everything has gone downhill and people are so disappointed with Celebrity. We keep sailing on Celebrity and I keep expecting disappointment based on the boards, but I keep having a fabulous experience. Maybe we're just lucky, but the service we get is always wonderful, and the ships are all in good shape. I went on the Constellation last year and expected to be a bit uninspired after having enjoyed the S-class and Azamara exclusively for a few years, but nope, it was great. We're heading to the Equinox in a few weeks, and have booked the Summit for next year and I have no fears at all, except that I'll gain weight and my liver will suffer because of the drink packages.

All that being said, I would love to see a smaller new build, for Azamara perhaps, as I find the cabins on Azamara to be a bit below standard, especially after experiencing the spacious, shower-curtain-free S-class. When Oceania built the Marina, I expected Azamara to announce an upcoming new build soon, but nothing yet, unless I've missed an announcement (I don't go to the Azamara board much anymore because we've decided Celebrity is more our style). I think a new ship in the 60,000 ton range would be a great boost for Azamara. Something that small probably wouldn't be profitable for Celebrity.

For those who would like to see a Celebrity new build, what size would you like to see? If you're a fan of really large ships and need more entertainment, RCCL's Oasis-class probably have just about everything you could want, with lots of activities and open space. I can't imagine what extra features Celebrity could put on a larger ship, without covering the same ground as RCCL.

We've been more or less exclusive with Celebrity and Azamara since 2001, and although we have seen some changes on Celebrity over the years, nothing is a deal-breaker. In fact, over all, with the drink packages, things have probably improved for what we're looking for in a vacation. I personally don't feel the need for a Celebrity new build as long as they continue to keep their existing ships in good shape.