MamaFej

Fair observation. Duly noted. Time will tell if the "Cut off your nose to spite your face" philosophy pays offl.

I'd like to know, as well. Good Ports are quite enjoyable. Not so good Ports... not so much. I'm a BIG fan of very good Tokaji(s)

All this talk of loyalty has me thinking: Many folks here seem to think X really wants to push aside the cruisers at higher levels of the Captain's Club in favor of younger ones. Those younger cruisers grew up with abundant "Loyalty" programs. Many have oodles of apps on their phones and are completely used to getting something after each 4th or 9th purchase, earning status levels, etc. Getting these folks onboard, so to speak, and reducing the benefits of the loyatly program won't go over with them any better than it is going with the current crop of cruisers. A higher percentage of them are tech-savvy and fluent in the various social media platforms than the 60+ crowd. No one was posting dissatisfaction with Blue Chip Stamps on Tik Tok back in the day, but a frustrated 30-someting can get tens of thousands of views pretty darn quickly these days. All this to say, I'm not sure that diluting benefits and reducing services whilst raising prices will pan out well.

I'm sorry to hear that. I was supposed to have boarded the day you disembarked, but had to cancel 57 days of travel (including 2 other cruises) for non-Covid medical reasons. I hope you have a quick and complete recovery. Long Covid is no fun! Covid is indeed alive and infecting. Four people at my son's work have tested positive in the past two days. My son was training one of them for 7 hours six days before they tested positive. My son testeed last night, and is negative. Take care, and I hope your happy memories of travel comfort you as you recover.

Herein lies a major problem. Shouldn't Celebrity tell us? A small percentage of cruisers gets their crusing information from other passengers online, and an even smaller percentage here. Sadly, when folks find out aboard, many will take out their frustrations on the crew. The executives in Miami don't seem to understand that implementing changes without explaining them, or at least notifying passengers, is unfair to both passengers and crew.

My apologies. I owe you a cup of Tea Forte at Cafe al Bacio should we ever sail together.

We had an Oceania cruise booked for 2020, but... 2020. We've heard very good things about their food. A small bathroom isn't as big a deal for me as for some, as I have been an RV-er my whole life. However, I'm reading about short scheduled port times and lots of cancelled ports. We cruise for itinerary, and port times are a big deal for us. It's good to have options, and I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences.

Those are some pretty significan design flaws. They could learn a thing or two from the RV industry. Or, ya know, navies.

Sounds like an excellent opportunity for "Power Up Points!"

I won't, but I'd like to ask something like: Celebrity has previously partnered with Park West, Goop, and others. Is the addition of indoor vaping an idicator that Celebrity will soon announce a partnership with Juul or Phillip Morris? Or: Based on changes such as shortening itineraries, adding Coco Cay, and watering-down the Captain's Club benefits, there is much speculation that Celebrity wishes to push aside older passengers in favor of younger ones. Is the decision to allow indoor vaping an effort to make sure that these younger passengers don't live long enough to make it to the Elite level and higher?

You might find this thread helpful. There are a few rather pretentious posts. If you can get past them, there is also some good, helpful, relevant information.

In that case, Ganesh has nothing on Celebrity. 😉

Reading this forum, it does seem as though Celebrity's left hand does not know what it's right hand is doing. It also seems as if those two hands might not be on the same planet.

Mental health matters, too. For some folks, cream sauce is comfort food. 😉

Another factor is how long the cruise is. For a 2 or 3 day cruise, Princess Plus gets you 2 casual dining meals and 2 fitness classes. For a 28 day cruise (like my next one) Princess Plus gets you 2 casual dining meals and 2 fitness classes. For a 51 day cruise around South America, Princess Plus gets you 2 casual dining meals and 2 fitness classes. For the 116 day World cruise, Princess Plus gets you (wait for it) 2 casual dining meals and 2 fitness classes. The Premier Package gets you 2 specialty dining meals, regardless of the length of the cruise. It seems to me that it would be more reasonable to offer the meals and classes each 7 days, like Azamara does with some of their benefits. Alas, Princess doesn't consult me on such things (or any things).

I'm afraid I don't have anything helpful to offer. I am responding, anyway, because I need to say that @Dodger Blue is an awesome screen name. Carry on.

I hope you are having a wonderful time. We are considering a 2025 Arctic expedition, and I look forward to hearing about yours when you return.

We've done several smaller ship cruises since the restart, and have discovered that we really enjoy them. I should be on the last ight of 28 nights aboard the Azamara Pursuit right now, but life had other plans. We really like the Azamara "Intensive" itineraries. We are finding that Azamara pricing has been similar to or better than Celebrity's Aqua at times, and we prefer the smaller ship for the frequently cited reasons. We've never done a bells and whistles type ship, and we've never been to the Caribbean, despite having cruised to 6 continents and having seen Africa from a cruise ship. We will cruise to Africa in 2025. We will get to the Caribbean eventually, I imagine. I think it's great that there are so many different types of cruising, and so many types of ships. Different strokes for different folks... and some folks' strokes change for a variety of reasons.

My next cruise is 28 days. I have the "opportunity" to "upgrade" my current ($40)) Plus package and get the same number of casual meals as someone on a 5 day cruise. I can also get what look to be children's birthday party desserts 56 times and have a total of 2 fitness classes in which to burn them off. I think I'll pass. Yes, I know I can work out on my own, and I will. that's not the point.

We've got 28 days circimnavigating Australia coming up soon. I've read that Coral is a favorite Princess ship for many. I'm beginning to understand why. Thank you.

Imagine what you'll have time to do when you do retire!

We have good friends, who normally sail with Celebrity, who did a Virgin cruise ealer this summer. They absolutely loved it!

The concierge in Michael's Club on the Eclipse earlier this year told us that she has everyone's (security) pictures when I told her, several days in, that I was surprised neither she nor her colleague ever asked us to identify ourselves.

I got mine, but I'm reitred. I don't have a work day to go about. I have no idea what to do!!!!

WHAT?!?!?!? I finally have come to appreciate fish (well, at least mild white fish) and Dover Sole (especially that in Murano) is a major reason for that. We have a 17 day HON-SYD cruise coming up in a verandah, and have purchased a specialty dining package for it. I may have to reconsider. I suppose living in the First World dramatically increases the odds of having First World Problems.