Im sad to say, but Im on my way, Goodbye Celebrity.

I'd love to know how you scored that deal! Our air, alone, cost $2600 pp to Europe next month. Our 10 night Celebrity cruise is an SS is costing over $3000 pp.

Transatlantic cruises or "Repositioning" cruises are usually much cheaper since they don't stop at as many ports and they are not as popular. The cruise we are going on is a 14 night Transatlantic on the Reflection on October 22nd. The first 7 days are normal with 4 ports. The last 7 are all at sea. The cost we paid and which is available right now on Celebrity is $1499 p/p for a Concierge cabin or as low as $1099 p/p for an inside.

We bought our airfare using Celebrity Air. We were thrilled with the cost. It could have been much cheaper. The fare from Anchorage to Rome for economy was $600 p/p. We splurged and bought business class which gives you the seats that become beds for $1400 p/p. Luftansa has that fare for $10,000 per person if you can believe that. We also have $200 OBC from the TA and Celebrity.

We did not purchase return flights yet from Ft. Lauderdale since we are going to stay and visit friends and relatives and we have not yet decided how long we will be staying. Assuming we fly economy, it will be another $400 or so back to Anchorage from Ft. Lauderdale. Bottom line. This 14 night cruise could have cost as little as $2599 p/p including air for a concierge cabin or $2100 p/p for an inside including air.

Nancy, please let us know how you liked your cruise on Viking and if there is anything you didn't like. BTW, have you tried a river cruise?

Seen ya, Nance!

Nancy, please let us know how you liked your cruise on Viking and if there is anything you didn't like. BTW, have you tried a river cruise?

No, have never done a river cruise. Have been VERY loyal to Celebrity, over 40 cruises.

Will definitely report back. The cruise is not till next winter. We usually cruise twice or three times a year. Since we cancelled all our Celeb cruises, it will only be once this year.

After a few cruises on HAL and one on Princess we came running back to X and were so glad to be back. Recent Reflection cruise one of the best of our 10+ on X.

After a few cruises on HAL and one on Princess we came running back to X and were so glad to be back. Recent Reflection cruise one of the best of our 10+ on X.

And that may happen to us after a Caribbean itinerary on the Viking Sea, next year. Most are reassuring me that it wont.

Nancy - I am also interested in Viking Ocean. Have Celebrity friends trying them out in June. I looked at the Viking video. Looks a lot like Oceania's ships in size and layout. Vikings decor does not appeal to me. Not crazy about the stateroom carpeting. But their bathrooms seem nice. Good luck!

Our 10 night European cruise is 3,650 per person in a sky suite, S1 corner aft with all perks and we booked the fist day in the morning...our airfare is 3,000 pp for business class. We are cruising Greece, Italy and Malta. It sounds like you did much better than us...

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We booked 9 months out in an AQ and then upgraded to the SS when prices went down after final payment. We are also in Business class with Delta. Booked in December - 4 months out.

StillLooking4Advent - I did not realize that your cruise was a transatlantic. Or that their airfare was one way. Thank you for the clarification. What airline is your Business Class on? We paid a hefty sum for Business on Virgin Australia, but not $10,000 pp. Virgin A had a top notch Business class!

Unfortunately, Celebrity has changed. Celebrity's cheesecake WAS the best that I have ever had. It wasn't very good on my last cruise. It tasted old and dried up. It definitely is different. What happened?

We have X cruise in 3 weeks and to be honest it will be last chance saloon for us too. Not so much a food issue (tend to use specialty and Blu) but a service and passenger demographic issue.

Fingers crossed, as we really want to try Edge!

Unfortunately, Celebrity has changed. Celebrity's cheesecake WAS the best that I have ever had. It wasn't very good on my last cruise. It tasted old and dried up. It definitely is different. What happened?

Probably a combination of things. Celebrity has been moving to the RCL dessert model....they now make anything they can in sheet cake pans and cut it into little rectangles....gone are the slices of most cakes; They have changed some recipes, even on some of their "old standards"...for example the onion soup now uses a different base with a different flavor; If there is an opportunity to cut cost, Celebrity takes it, so it's likely that any new recipe has less costly ingredients.

Unfortunately, Celebrity has changed. Celebrity's cheesecake WAS the best that I have ever had. It wasn't very good on my last cruise. It tasted old and dried up. It definitely is different. What happened?

Don't worry. You can always go to Brooklyn and actually have real cheesecake at Junior's

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We have X cruise in 3 weeks and to be honest it will be last chance saloon for us too. Not so much a food issue (tend to use specialty and Blu) but a service and passenger demographic issue.

 

Fingers crossed, as we really want to try Edge!

which demographic are you displeased with?

Hopefully and do not regret your decision, we were in the Eclipse 14 nights 03/18/18, the food in the MDR and Lunch in the OVC have no complaints, we also tried Murano for dinner and Lunch along with the Qsine lunch a taste of the specialties and we are pleased. Of the shows I did not attend all for XYX reasons but to those who attend the Pianist Antonio Salci and the violinist Amy Lee are the best I've seen in my history. The cruises that I have reserved, I bought them practically since the reservations started, and I can tell you that they are selling fast and prices are starting to rise. This would not be possible if the majority agreed with your comments. There is a saying here that says so much goes the container to the water until it breaks. Maybe this caused his anger.

Oh of course, selling like hotcakes. Im sure my cancelled cabins were filled immediately. As someone said, Celeb is probably glad to see an elite plus cruiser go, so they dont have to give any perks to someone new to the line.

There was a time, I defended Celeb to those arguing for Hal and Princess. After a very quiet Oceania cruise, we went back to Celeb. So there are pluses, undeniably or we would not have done 40 cruises. After several years, those pluses seemed to be taken over by the minuses. So without extra cost, we decided to try something else.

which demographic are you displeased with?

Yes, I Am quite interested in the response to this question.....

bon voyage

The next two years we will not be on a Celebrity ship after doing over 40 cruises and achieving elite plus status.

 

Where to begin, maybe at the end. Our last three cruises. Third last was on the |Infinity. Pacific Coastal. Wonderful itinerary. Food not edible in MDR and OVC. Poor service, poor entertainment, aging ship.

 

2nd last, Infinity, Panama crossing. Wonderful itinerary. Food not edible in MDR and OVC. Poor service, poor entertainment, aging ship.

 

Last cruise , Eclipse, beautiful ship, MDR terrible. Dined in OVC 11 out of 13 nights. The grill was amazing. MDR terrible service. Yes maitre d' full of apologies. but nothing changed. Food was so salty people with high blood pressure were told by the Medical facility to stop eating in MDR. A waiter off the record told us that it is salted for a reason, to make it more palatable.

 

Food is important to us, are we fussier than most, maybe.

We dont consume alcohol, maybe with nightly wine at the table, things would taste a whole lot better or maybe we wouldnt care. That was an observation made by some in the MDR. Just load up on the wine, everything will taste good.

 

What I have also noticed over the past few years is the separation of classes that does not exist on other more upscale lines, Viking O, Oceania for example. Those in Suites, Aqua get their own dining room, etc. Off the record, captains club host told us that the food in MDR has to be worse in order for Luminae and Blu to seem better so more suites can be sold. Yes I understand that.

 

I will touch upon one more area. Customer relations. It has been rare when I call Celeb that I get an informed, helpful, polite "cruise specialist" In fact, more often than not, I am put on hold for a very long time while the "specialist" talks to someone who can tell him/her what to do.

 

The Celebrity web site, well what can I say that has not been said so eloquently so many times before by others.

 

We reached a decision, not lightly to cancel our two Celeb reservations and try something else. One cancellation was the Edge, we had the infinity balcony but that did not buy us the dining experience suites would have, even though it was much more expensive than a regular balcony. So separate areas for suites, the elitism continues. Then we cancelled the Sillhoette, even though we are losing the 200 non refundable deposit. Just cant face more of the same.

 

We are trying the Viking Ocean line, but not until next February so cant tell you how we fared. But I can tell you that it is costing us less than the Edge would have per night. The cruise specialist was informed, helpful and polite. They also have a chat site where you can discuss any and all issues. All tours are included. All specialty coffees, soda, internet, laundry, so we dont need to be elite plus for the perks, No kids. Good website. No status to achieve for perks. All get the same perks.

 

Some will say, did we bring all of our woes to the attention of Celebrity. Yes in all ways that are available to us.

 

Maybe trying something new will make us appreciate what we had, but somehow I doubt it.

 

Those with no sailings, or few sailings will not understand why we are leaving Celeb. Those in Suites and Aqua also may not as they get a different experience.

 

I welcome all respectful comments.

Nancy,I 100% agree with you.After 40 + its time for a divorce and look for another one.

I do hope you find a good good one.

Although on M-class ships Luminae and Blue were carved from the MDR it hardly cut it in half. That's a bit of an exaggeration. I believe a more accurate word is partition instead of segregation. Segregation indicates a separation due to factors other than cost.

 

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Great points, to be sure. Thank you.

bon voyage

Great points, to be sure. Thank you.

 

bon voyage

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And that may happen to us after a Caribbean itinerary on the Viking Sea, next year. Most are reassuring me that it wont.

Are you doing the West Indies Explorer? That’s the one we just did. I would find it very difficult going back to a mainstream line again, although we have booked a cruise on Azamara for Spring of 2019.

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This thread reminds me very much of the movie Midnight in Paris with Owen Wilson. We all miss “good Ol’ days” [emoji6] the reality is that everything changes- how many land restaurants offer true silver service now? How many hotels offer true butler service? Maybe we should try to work out whether the reason for our dislikes/complains is that we don’t want to accept changes or the service/ quality has declined too much. My DH and I are relatively new to cruising, and it’s good as we don’t compare with the bye gone days, we just evaluate whether things/services/food is good or not do good.

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Nancyshaw,

This is my point.

 

After doing 40 cruises and achieving elite plus status you've done the right thing that should have been done 38 cruises ago.

I did some more than that... but on 15+ different cruise lines.

I cannot imagine myself confined to a "favorite cruise line". It does not matter which one. Celebrity or anything else.

I cannot imagine it how much of my cruise life would be lost had I happen to wear a ball & chain of a "plus status".

A "citizen of the cruise world" - this is a status one might look for.

 

"Loyalty" = "Horse eye shades"

 

My "Elite perks": flexibility, more choices, more cruise life colors, no stereotypes.

 

Caribbean

We can choose from a few ships that do the single best 7-day Eastern itinerary (Nieuw Amsterdam, Carnival Glory).

Should we look at the Lesser Antilles, we have Viking and a TUI ships in the top of the list unless pleasant surprises pop up.

For a proper TA we'll board the QM2.

For more relaxing Caribbean-Mediterranean we'll look at Vikings again.

The Liberty of the Seas is a ship of choice to cruise from San Juan.

We won't hesitate to take a 12-day cruise on the Breakaway from NY if the itinerary is right.

For the Western caribbean our first look will be at the Getaway.

We may have a wow Canary Islands cruise (Independence OTC or the Queen Elizabeth from the UK, or TUI from a Mediterranean port).

The Saphpire Princess (an unreachable star) or Celebrity Eclipse will do a good job (British Isles).

A large MSC ship will be handy for our Mediterranean cruise with kids.

A Costa ship would complement a land tour in Europe with a few days getaway.

Etc., etc.... This is not the full list!

So... why one cruise line for lifetime....

 

About your post..

Putting the MDR food aside (I have read tons of similar comment but miles can vary) I do agree about the major thing.

It is in the air now.

A smell of insincerity. What you call "elitism" I call "third world practice".

 

Should one cut ties with a formerly favorite cruise line?

I don't think so. I have repeated it many times: cruise line is nothing, the ship is everything.

Althogh let's say ethical standards of the cruise line are getting lower, a the original Solstice class ships (Solstice - Eclipse)are almost as good as they used to be. Think of the UK cruises...

 

The tone of you post is so sad...

As you have dropped the "ball & chain", why not take a wider look?

Viking is a beautiful product (I will post a link as soon as I restore the review photos).

You'll like it.

Not the best value, as it's overpriced. But prices aside, an outstanding ship.

Try it!

But for the time being... look at what is going on next door.

 

We have just completed our... I don't count any more... cruise.

Was it good?

No, it wasn't good. It was a Chocolate of the Seas cruise.

This is not the right place to do a review, so just 6 pictures.

Yes, the food was edible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 



 

 

 

The food wasn't exactly as good as what we had on Viking (Viking won the buffet), but the product overall was a tad above.

 

 

Don't say good buy to Celebrity. Say au revoir.

Remember: cruise line is nothing. Sterotypes are nothing. The ship is everything.

 

 

Enjoy your cruises!

Your Chocolate of the Seas - what line/itinerary was it?

PS love your post!!!

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Don't worry. You can always go to Brooklyn and actually have real cheesecake at Junior's

Or go to the Bronx and buy an even better cheesecake at S&S!

This thread reminds me very much of the movie Midnight in Paris with Owen Wilson. We all miss “good Ol’ days” [emoji6] the reality is that everything changes- how many land restaurants offer true silver service now? How many hotels offer true butler service? Maybe we should try to work out whether the reason for our dislikes/complains is that we don’t want to accept changes or the service/ quality has declined too much. My DH and I are relatively new to cruising, and it’s good as we don’t compare with the bye gone days, we just evaluate whether things/services/food is good or not do good.

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Exactly:). Everything changes. We’re each changing too. We evaluate things/services/food/wine as we encounter them and decide whether we want them (and want to pay their prices) or something else.

Or go to the Bronx and buy an even better cheesecake at S&S!

I've heard of a place called The Bronx. I think it's somewhere in upstate NY.

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I've heard of a place called The Bronx. I think it's somewhere in upstate NY.

LOL!

Yes, I guess it is "upstate" to someone from Brooklyn. :evilsmile: