stringbean10

23 hours ago, ah33919 said:

Do you happen to know what the price for the Thermal Suite 7 day pass is on this (2/10) sailing and if they are offering any discounts? I'm sailing in about a month and I'm trying to decide if I should book it prior (no discount) or wait until I'm onboard. Right now if I book it prior, it is $109 per person (there's 2 of us) so they are wanting to charge me $218 plus $43.60 gratuity totaling $261.60.

Thank you 

I had booked the thermal suite for our sailing on Icon (this Saturday - yay!) and cancelled it yesterday.  The suite just doesn't seem to offer much at all - pretty disappointing considering all the other new bells and whistles on the ship.  Heated loungers, a sauna and a steam room just doesn't compare with other lines offerings at the spa.  Sad because we do generally buy the passes when we sail but couldn't bring myself to do it this time because of the subpar product. 

We sail on Icon on Saturday & can't wait -  WEEEEEEEEEEEE! 

I don't think I've spent one second of my life on another board - let's say SilverSeas, for example, saying what is NOT for me and how I WOULD NEVER PAY THAATTT!!!

People are something else - lol! 

Reading through this board and the comments about choosing to  "patronize" other cruise lines makes me laugh.  Yes, please take your "patronizing" attitudes elsewhere and attempt to be happy!

I also cannot imagine revisiting a service I stopped using years ago to throw my two cents in on the internet.  "Stop liking things I don't like!"   People are a trip!

Celebrity is a blast - I sailed on them almost 30 years ago (yeesh!) and the product is MASSIVELY better!  People stating "back in my day" are just remembering their lost youth and through rose colored glasses.  

Celebrity is wonderful and you will have a wonderful time.

This board had me terrified before I took my first Celebrity cruise in 20 years.  It was so negative and toxic.  We sailed on Beyond and it was FANTASTIC!  Please do not not let the miserable people scare you.  

I also did a recent Alaska cruise on Royal Princess.  Wow.  The food was AWFUL.  I'm mean really, really bad.  We even ate at the speciality restaurants and they were BAD.  The steaks were like something out of waffle house.   We vowed never to do a Princess cruise again.  The ship was dated, the food terrible - of course the crew was amazing and the ports were lovely.  We had great company and great weather but otherwise - yeeeeesh.  Terrible. 

For comparison:

Typhoon lagoon (Disney) pricing: 

12 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

Ouch,..it was $70 in October. I’d skip unless you can make a value out of the Thrill cabanas which include tickets to the park. 

Thrill cabana is currently listed at ..........$3,999.00 - and there is "only 1 left" - am I taking crazy pills? 

 veverything seems exceptionally high for this cruise - Icon in feb 2024

Deluxe bev package - $92 pp/pd

Ultimate dining - $356 pp

Thrill water park - $207 pp 

And all of these are "sale" prices.

After paying a premium to be on a new boat - I'm feeling like a sucker.

Does this seem reasonable - is this pretty standard pricing or on the high side?  thanks  

I find this Celebrity board particularly toxic.  This board had me panicked before my cruise on Beyond.  It was incredible.  Now we are going on Princess and the tone of the Princess boards is wildly different.  Much more helpful, informative and positive. 

On 5/15/2023 at 11:41 AM, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

With the current investments in future infrastructure specifically for the Royal Caribbean International brand, would it apear that the Royal Caribbean Group is neglecting the Celebrity brand?

 

 

RCI keeps investing billiions in brand new innovative Celebrity ships too??????

I personally like the private islands, I never really feel like I've actually "visited" where we went on a cruise to the Caribbean. I guess I could mark off Honduras, Mexico, Bahamas, Jamaica, St. Martin, USVIs  Haiti, and the Dominican Republic off my 'been to' list but it seems disingenuous.  It feels like saying you've been to a city when you just drove through or something - a few hours at most. 

Cruises are a vacation for me vs. traveling.  Therefore, I enjoy a private island stop - the chairs are free, the beach is maintained, the drinks and food are included.  We usually travel during the fall/winter for the weather and Its great!  I've been on one itinerary with two private island stops and it was awesome!  Get the benefit of the beach without the hassle of arranging transportation - buying a day pass, etc.  

1 hour ago, suekel said:

I find the website to be fine.  A heckuva lot easier than Celebrity.  To find your bookings all you have to do is go to booked guests and then access your personalizer.. everything you need is there

I have to disagree. I find Celebrity much more intuitive and easier.   This is what the choices look like under booked guests:

Cruise Personalizer®

Get Vacation Protection

Add Flights & Transfers

Book Excursions

Shop Activities & Services

"Cruise Personalizer" is confusing.  I promise that there are ways to make this easier to navigate and more clear for users.  It is a very bad website both visually and in utility.  It is also frustrating that the website then directs you to the app to accomplish tasks.  Why not link both?  Awful. 

I have had nothing but laggy buggy trouble with both the website and the app.  The website is truly AWFUL.  I know Princess skews older and I cannot imagine my parents trying to navigate all of the issues I have had with Princess.  Am I the only one? 

Why is the website so counter intuitive?  Why are your current bookings so tricky to find?  Why does my booking number randomly disappear from the website?

The App is more intuitive but so laggy!  I have great internet and a new iphone - I am very web savvy.  

Am I the only one that struggles with Princess tech?  I'm about to pull my hair out! 

I hope you are fairly compensated! How dare they exist.

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

This isn’t about children.  It’s about MISBEHAVING children and parents who don’t care.

 

You might want to try Disney.  I hear it’s a riot.  

Post Didn’t say “misbehaving children” said adults only cruise - ie NO children.  Find a adults only line.  Celebrity ain’t it. 

Are there any cruises free from grumpy old people who can’t bear seeing a handful of children?  I’d sign up for that in a minute!

It looks like 5 year olds are "shipmates" at the kids club and are in the 3-5 year old group.  My daughter is 8 so we did not experience that part of kids club but we could see it.  On Beyond, they had a great play area next to the 6-10 year olds.  It looked like the little kids were very happy with toys, a play kitchen etc.  Again, the staff was top notch!  I hope you have a great cruise! 

Wonderful review! 

We had a similar experience on Beyond in February with our 10 year old and 8 year old.  The kids club staff was fantastic and our kids begged to go from open to close.  We kept checking on them to make sure it was true too!  (I wish they had some sort of pager system or something in the app - we made several unnecessary trips to the kids club) 

We have sailed Royal Caribbean with the kids since they were infants.  Royal Caribbean is great for activities but the kids club can be chaotic and overwhelming.  That said, we have Icon booked for 2024. Two different vibes and experiences. 

1.If you had kids later in life -- and you enjoy a more refined experience - book it,.

2/. If your kids hate lines, crowds, and noise -- book it.  Seriously, book it.

3. If you AND your kids can sit down for a 60-90 minute dinner and have a conversation without devices or gimmicks -- book it.  

    * La Petite Chef was a BIG HIT! 

4 If you have been there done that with Disney, RCCL, NCL, etc... and your looking for change of pace -- book it. 

^^^^^^ This all applies to my family and I completely agree!  

We did participate as a family in trivia, golf, archery, pickle ball, the silent disco, zumba, etc. We hid and found ducks!  The kids loved everything!  We ate as a family in the steak house, la petite chef and Raw on 5.  My kids adored the staff (especially cafe baccio) who greeted them by name and were so sweet!  

Thank you so much for this review and I wish someone had provided this info before our first Celebrity cruise.  These boards had me so worried we would be eating scraps and with a bunch of grumpy folks about to mutiny.  We had a WONDERFUL time! 

We loved the trip so much we booked another Edge Class cruise this weekend!  Love it! 

OMG YES!   These boards had me terrified before our Celebrity Beyond trip in Feb.  Some people are just MISERABLE.  We had a fantastic cruise - everything was top notch! Loved it!   FEAR NOT non-grumpy folks!  You will have an amazing time :)

53 minutes ago, Chardonnay Char said:

Thank you for posting.  

Here's a more recent article from August 2022 discussing how much RCI makes per passenger: 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/08/01/heres-how-much-royal-caribbean-makes-each-passenger

4 minutes ago, bonagrad said:

Well, mine says otherwise!

Better call them back and follow up with an email 🙂 

6 minutes ago, cw2go said:

 

@stringbean10 this one? @TopoChico has posted many times and I see them all. 

 

But I don't see you answering any direct questions. 

I'm not going to address the questions because they aren't relevant to the discussion as to why celebrity is making cut backs.  Why would it matter if I've only been on 1 cruise or 300+ as to what is happening on Celebrity today?  If I eat at McDonald's or finest restaurants in the country?  

If all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about WHHYYY?? HOOOWW COULD THEY DO THIS???

I've tried to provide answers. 

Just now, cw2go said:

Right here @stringbean10

 

Now will you provide first hand information? 

No - the one about all the people with fancy jobs eating chicken nuggets - the really long one. 

5 minutes ago, bonagrad said:

Sure does, on the MDR tab.  It doesn't say that under the OVC tab and it certainly doesn't say they'll reduce it by 80%!