mnocket

I've been looking at both Seabourn and Oceania for a Norwegian Fjords cruise. Both have nice itineraries. It's not at all clear which cruise line I should book... still studying.

I've been eying Oceana for a Norwegian fjords cruise in 2024. They have some really nice itineraries.

I think savvy cruisers have all caught on to fact that cruise line "sales" usually require quotation marks😏

Right. I don't really see the value X adds and why one would pay their mark-up. It's easy enough to contact local car/tour companies and get quotes. Reliable and trustworthy services can be found on travel forums. I guess if one doesn't want to be bothered doing the legwork, it may make sense to use Private Journey.

This is an important question and totally appropriate. I've been selling my cruise line stocks and have reduced my holding by 50% in the past month - due entirely to the factors you mention. It seems to me that the post Covid rebound has petered out. The fact that many different cruise lines, perhaps none more so than Celebrity, have recently decided to enact cutbacks and price increases tells me that there is an industry-wide reassessment of the industry's financial outlook. In the near term it seems wall street is rewarding the companies for these changes. Stocks also seem to go up when layoffs are announced. Wall street loves cutting expenses... at least in the short term. The hope is that cutting expenses will lead to an improved future. Sometimes it does - sometimes it doesn't. In the case of the cruise lines I'm not sure it will. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we see some bankruptcies in the industry in the next year or two. I've decided to sit on the sidelines and watch. I intend to sell my remaining cruise line stocks in the next month or so.

A lot of customers lost a lot of money when Crystal went belly up. I was actually considering booking with them at the time.... dodged a bullet😬 It will take some time, and as you mentioned good reviews, before I would consider booking with them. It's just not a good time for any cruise line, but perhaps the debt relief of bankruptcy will give them a leg up on other cruise lines?

I would agree that I'm often cynical. I'm sometimes even right😏

Are CVPs somehow incentivized to make new bookings and since in this case the booking was already made the CVP had more to gain by focusing on new booking rather than helping?

lol Yeah their goal is to make people believe that they are in fact receiving executive attention when if fact they are speaking to a low-level CS rep. It seems to be working.

Yeah, I've been following the cruise line stocks and have owned some since the Covid lows. They all have had a good run lately. I'm guessing since Wall Street loves when companies cut expenses that might part of the reason. Otherwise, I'm really confused. My current opinion, which has led to my recent sale of 1/2 of my cruise line stocks, it that the much hoped for post-Covid rebound is running out of steam. There are many reports here on CC of ships sailing at far from full capacity. The recent surge in cutbacks and broad-based price increases across many cruise lines tells me that there has been a recent reassessment by many cruise lines of their financial forecast. I'm just no longer a believer and will likely sell the rest of my cruise line stocks in the next several months.

My sticking point is that they actually updated the menus several days into the voyage and moved the prime rib to another night (before eventually eliminating it altogether). Why would they update a future menu to include prime rib if they didn't actually have any? It's so odd.

It would, but my point is that they know before the ship even leave the dock whether or not they ordered or received prime rib. The chef plans the menus well in advance. There is no excuse for posting menus that include prime rib entrees days into the cruise when the chef knows there is no prime rib onboard. It's hard to understand, but it almost seems deliberate.

What I can't understand are the reports of the menus changing. Upon boarding the menus show prime rib one day - several days later the menus change and prime rib moves to a later day - several more days and prime rib is gone altogether. I mean when they provisioned the ship before departure they know if they have received prime rib or not - or if they even ordered it. How can they continue to show it on the menus and even change it from one day to another if they don't even have it on board? Surely the chef has the meals planned out well in advance. It just looks like Celebrity is playing games with its passengers. That's really sad, but I can't think of another explanation.

I represent that remark😀 Whenever I cruise I see many elderly people with serious mobility issues and I swear to myself, and spouse, that I'm going to do my best to avoid that fate. As a result we are committed to doing our travels now, while we are physically fit. Given the decline in the Premium cruise lines I've also decided to open my wallet and sail on true Luxury lines (e.g. Regent, Seabourn, etc.) - an expense that heretofore I was unwilling to consider. I'm up in the air as to whether O provides an acceptable value preposition - that's why I'm following this forum.

WOW I never knew that! Thanks.

You are one brave sole if you would even consider a tour to Machu Picchu a month from now. As a general rule of life - if tourists are being evacuated from someplace due to unrest, I don't plan to travel there in the near future. That said, I'm sure all cruise lines will seriously consider passenger safety (and their liability) when assessing whether to call on Peru in the coming months. I imagine if they proceed with the port stops/tours it will be safe.

My initial thought was that this must be satire, but now I wonder if you're serious. It constantly amazes me how differently people respond to the same circumstance. I guess it's what maintains the karmic balance of the world🙂

I don't doubt you, I'm just disappointed because it has saved me so much money on airline fares for past cruises with other lines. I can no longer tolerate flying international distances unless it's Business Class (my legs become so uncomfortable it's like torture). This can be a real problem since Business Class airline fares can approach the cost of the cruise fare itself (Celebrity, Princess).

This is somewhat of a surprise to me. My experience with other cruise lines is that their air booking service is primarily beneficial when booking Business Class - especially when one-way. It seems your experience with O is just the opposite. Kind of a bummer because cruise line air bookings are the only way I've been able to get great deals on Business Class (50% off airline prices).

Thanks. That looks like more confirmation that the dinner offerings are being drastically cut back. Whether what remains in the buffet is "acceptable" or not is subjective and probably not worth arguing about. Suffice it to say the dinner buffet has significantly changed and customers should be aware of this.

I'm willing to bet the people who call you on the phone are far removed from the Executive Offices. They are probably the equivalent of call center employees albeit more professional and polite. Their job is to make customers feel better. When X decided to make these changes I'm sure they expected a flood of communications from disgruntled customers and staffed up a "response staff" to deal with it. The only upside besides making people feel "heard" is that they probably keep tally of the complaints and produce reports that go to management. Much like when you contact your congressperson about a particular piece of legislation. Your specific conversation is never relayed to the congressperson, but he/she is given a periodic tally of how many constituents contacted the office on a particular piece of legislation and how many were for or against it.

Probably belongs in the Unpopular Opinions thread, but... jhho, I think Le Petit Chef is Celebrities version of a Drag Brunch😁

Someone's head is planted firmly in the sand if they're trying to discredit the video. Blind loyalty is blind.

Just another change that makes true Luxury lines more cost competitive.

This is certainly disappointing to hear. I've been looking at O and from reading their forum I had the impression that while there were some cutbacks, they were not close to the extent of those at X. I'd been hoping this was true.