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!

RUDE!

Great review so far, I’ve enjoyed following along. Thank you. Very interested in the Beyond leg as we will be going for our B2B on your second leg. This will help get me through the week.

I suspect you’re right. Because I currently have no points, I can’t see the same view of benefits you are seeing. It will only display Preview and Classic level benefits. When I click on View all tiers and benefits, it brings me to the digital document I screen shot. I also just checked my Xpress pass for my B2B and it has my Elite Plus, so the IT department is up to its old tricks.

I just check the website and the discount is showing at 15%. More concerning, all of my points have disappeared.

I’m going to hold judgement until I board the ship in a few weeks and we stop at GC, but my thought are not so much about lines as it is distance/inconvenience. For example, if you are on the suite sun deck and go down to the pool bar, by the time you get back to your chair, the drink will be half gone. Same can be said if you are hanging out in the rooftop garden or other venues not in the immediate main pool vicinity. I hear the suggestions about stocking up on beer and wine but that can’t be done with a frozen cocktail. I understand Celebrity not wanting to pay to get licenses for all bars, but maybe obtain a few licenses and spread the open bars around the ship, like ocean view for diners, perhaps the retreat sun deck or sunset bar. I’m sure there is a better solution than only one bar. Of course, this is a first world problem and this too shall pass.

Sounds like another Celebrity cut back - “we can save XX$$ if we stop putting in the salt room. They won’t know the difference anyway.”

Thank you for the update. It will be interesting to see what the reality turns out to be.

I noticed that the lobster roll was missing from the boarding day lunch menu. Disappointing.

Looking forward to this review and following along. Boarding Beyond Feb. 26th for a B2B in a Sky Suite.

If enough passenger rate Grand Cayman as a zero on the survey and complain to guest services etc. The. Raise lines may think twice about port stops at GC. The way to create change is by hitting the port where it counts, in the wallet. I’m on Beyond in a few weeks, didn’t plan on getting off the ship - now I definitely will NOT. I will not reward GC with money.