What has happened to Celebrity?

[BosoxI]

And last cruise, I saw Americans shouting to the crew and keeping their baseball hats in the MDR :rolleyes:

 

Can we please refrain from Nationality bashing?!

Smoking on balconies is not allowed by Celebrity, and this for good safety reasons, It is however done by some passengers, not only Europeans. ( although we do have a lot of chain smokers, especially in Southern and Middle European countries.)[/quote]

 

 

Too funny

[bigbenboys]

It's rather amazing that folks don't look in the mirror! Many folks who loved RCL have moved to Celebrity for the very reason that it is perhaps a bit more sedate. The young moderns will be getting older...as a matter of fact, more younger folks will be getting older than old folks who die off at least for the next few years. There are always folks getting older. Celebrity is at no risk of not surviving.....so let's not get melodramatic...

 

Celebrity needs to find a way to fit between RCL, the "family" cruise line with rock climbing walls and such.....and an "old person's" cruise line. If I were looking at a market niche (and I did that for many years for a major corporation), I'd focus on the 40-60 year old crowd where the kids are off to college, some folks are retiring a bit earlier (I know, many are now retiring older or not retiring), and they have (at least after the kids leave college) more discretionary/travel money.

 

It's hard to pinpoint exactly what draws that group....clearly Celebrity marketing is focused on "modern luxury" which hopefully they can define....but the fatal mistake is if they get folks on their first cruise and they don't like it...or it doesn't live up to the marketing.

 

That means you have to have some good entertainment, some good music, and some good food. The issue I see is that all of these areas seem to have been cut...and that may prove counter productive. Or it may not, if the folks in the target market think that the current level of offering is good enough to try again. I come from cruising where we saw better entertainment, music and food, so I'm sensitive, I guess, to cutbacks. Perhaps the new folks without my background will develop a new base level and continue with Celebrity. The risk is that celebrity gains new cruisers and loses older ones...and if the new don't equal or exceed the old who leave, that's a problem.

 

It's a balancing act....I think Celebrity is near the edge of losing some of it's repeat customers based on reading here....and they need to focus on the experience on board a little more than the bottom line in order to keep those customers.

 

One way to do this is to do honest customer surveys....NOT the ones they do on board where you are pleaded with to give folks high marks, irrespective of your real feelings. Those surveys, if they look at them at all, are useless. I'm not sure how they get good opinions and honest results, but I hope they have some other process for input.

 

I've been cruising for a while now. I'm still very happy with Celebrity. I'm in that 40 to 60. I'm 55 and 3 years from retirement. This year we are doing 3 cruises on Celebrity with a total of 33 day and a 2 week land trip in England. I live in Seattle. The music is ok on Celebrity, but it wont get me to stop and listen. I would like more music of now. Songs from Lady Gaga, One Direction, One Republic, Pink, Katy Perry, Panic at the disco and Fun. I have to put one other group in that has been around awhile, No Doubt.

 

Celebrity has been making changes and will continue to make them. Do I miss some of them yes. We will see where Celebrity wants to go. Keep on rowing the ship into the 21st century. Richard

[teecee60]

My hubby and I have cruised Celebrity since 2001. We are booked on a TA in November on the Eclipse in Blu. What is expensive is the one way air to England, in fact for $300 more we could take a TA from New York to Southampton on the QM2 in a balcony.

 

Karen

 

Have you checked with Royal/Celebrity Choice Air?

 

I flew one way from Minneapolis to Heathrow November '12 to meet Constellation for her December T/A for only $394 booked through Choice Air. Got the exact same flight for almost ONE *T*H*I*R*D* what Delta wanted to charge me.

Edited January 23, 2014 by teecee60

[lovevacadays]

I just popped over here to the Celebrity boards because I am doing research on a Panama Canal cruise in Jan 2015. I have sailed Princess for the last 15 years. Princess does the Canal but I also liked the itinerary one of the Celebrity cruises was doing. I noticed your thread as it was the second one down. I did read it. What I find interesting is that I typically am on the Princess boards and quite often see "What has happened to Princess." I bet every cruise line has posts like yours. I'm not taking away from your concerns at all. I just found it interesting. I guess change is the one thing all of us cruisers can expect no matter what cruise line we typically sail.

[4774Papa]

And last cruise, I saw Americans shouting to the crew and keeping their baseball hats in the MDR :rolleyes:

 

Can we please refrain from Nationality bashing?!

 

Smoking on balconies is not allowed by Celebrity, and this for good safety reasons, It is however done by some passengers, not only Europeans. ( although we do have a lot of chain smokers, especially in Southern and Middle European countries.)

Despegue,

Please read my post again. I used European as an adjective since the people involved were European. I was not bashing any nationality, just describing the people violating the rules. Further, Europeans are not a nation.

 

I lived in Europe for four years and loved every minute of it.

[dkjretired]

I don't think we can necessarily assume all the A Cappella groups are gone, or do we know this for sure? I was on a cruise that did not have one, but the next one did. Perhaps we were incorrectly assuming they would always have one?

 

As to going downhill, I think overall compared to 20+ years ago when I first started cruising Celebrity there are some areas that have changed for the worst. And there are some that have changed for the better! I am about to embark on my 24th X cruise in March, and I can say that of all those cruises I have had only one that was not up to par. And yet the next few after that were amazing. Had I decided to 'jump ship' so to speak I would have missed those great cruises.

 

Perhaps, and I can only suggest as an idea as of course I do not know, the OP is just getting tired of the Celebrity brand? Or perhaps their expectations are rising as they become more experienced cruisers? Or perhaps the areas where there might have been some decline are those areas that are very important to them. Personally, I couldn't care less about the entertainment being excellent - good enough is good enough for me. I want the food to be at least very good most of the time (and occasionally excellent) and the service to always be at least very good. I am rarely disappointed in these regards.

 

On my cruise last month I specifically asked and I was told they are gone fleet wide.

[lightning bolt]

We sailed on Eclipse last year and will be on board again this Saturday.

 

We recently spent two months sailing in Constellation and loved every day. We found the MDR better than offerings two years ago.

 

There have been cutbacks in some food items at the poolside grill but additions in the buffet.

Now as long as we sail with friends and the ports of call are varied, we have never been bored.

We love trivia and the Activities staff on Constellation were spectacular, providing us with new questions for the entire trip.

 

When the weather is cold at home, sharing a drink or two with friends, listening to some music, watching the wake of the ship as the sun sets.. how can one be bored on a ship in the Caribbean?

 

We sailed n the Eclipse in November and had a great cruise. Lot's of old friends on the cruise and met some new ones.

 

I'm looking forward to being on the Century in February and know it will be different than the Eclipse. Have never had a bad experience on Celebrity.:)

[bplazo]

Getting back to the original comment by the OP, I am amazed at the level of criticism of Celebrity, even if most is fairly minor. As a penance I think all those who have complained should be forced to take an over priced early booked cruise on P&O, after 24 hours on board you will all be desperate to get back to Celebrity.

 

Maybe on a rccl or carnival cruise. I just read in carnival's Facebook page that their cruise was unpleasant because there were 1200 children and 900 adults. Not a cruise I would ever go on. Love celebrity because of less children.

[keithm]

My hubby and I have cruised Celebrity since 2001. At the time it was a great value for the money. It still is, even though we go for the Blu Restaurant and cabins. We are booked on a TA in November on the Eclipse in Blu. What is expensive is the one way air to England, in fact for $300 more we could take a TA from New York to Southampton on the QM2 in a balcony.

 

We enjoy some of the entertainment, most lecturers, and the food in Blu. The service in Blu is comparable to the Grill Restaurants on Cunard. A restaurant with no defined settings is a must! We dislike the casual dress on Celebrity but that is the new way. Food on Celebrity is similar in quality to the Cunard main restaurant with the same complaints from passengers.

 

Still, there is a cruise line for every passenger and you do get what you pay for!

 

Karen

Up to now we've always done Cunard. With them cutting back Caribbean trips we've looked elsewhere.We're doing a 14 day Caribbean trip on Eclipse on the 25'th of Jan. We always liked the food on Cunard (especially the Grills)I don't think "Blu" is at that level. I'd say "Murano" is. I did watch a Youtube video of a couple's 14 day trip on the Eclipse. It looked pretty nice. The only thing I have reservations about was how the dinners looked in Moonlight Sonata(the MDR)They really were not presented well. The food was rather haphazardly placed on the plates. Being in the food service industry(catering co.)Presentation is everything!! A steak with veggies just dumped on top is not very appetising. This seemed to show throughout this couples trip. The desserts did, however look nicely presented.Hopefully this is just a fluke, as I hear Celebrity's food is quite good. I'll do my review upon returning from the trip.

[Charles4515]

On my cruise last month I specifically asked and I was told they are gone fleet wide.

 

I never was much into the A Cappella groups but I would only consider them being gone a good thing if they were replaced by some other live entertainers. If they have not replaced them with some other live entertainers that is bad.

[Charles4515]

Up to now we've always done Cunard. With them cutting back Caribbean trips we've looked elsewhere.We're doing a 14 day Caribbean trip on Eclipse on the 25'th of Jan. We always liked the food on Cunard (especially the Grills)I don't think "Blu" is at that level. I'd say "Murano" is. I did watch a Youtube video of a couple's 14 day trip on the Eclipse. It looked pretty nice. The only thing I have reservations about was how the dinners looked in Moonlight Sonata(the MDR)They really were not presented well. The food was rather haphazardly placed on the plates. Being in the food service industry(catering co.)Presentation is everything!! A steak with veggies just dumped on top is not very appetising. This seemed to show throughout this couples trip. The desserts did, however look nicely presented.Hopefully this is just a fluke, as I hear Celebrity's food is quite good. I'll do my review upon returning from the trip.

 

My opinion is that the quality of food you get on the best night on Celebrity in the MDR is what you get every night on Cunard. Also the buffet food on Cunard is better than on Celebrity. Celebrity and HAL ( I would rate the food about equal on those two lines) do have better food than the other choices for the Caribbean but not as good as Cunard. Todd English on Cunard is better than any specialty restaurant I have been on on any other cruise line. That would be on Celebrity, HAL, Royal Caribbean, Azamara, Carnival, Princess and NCL.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Charles4515

[C 2 C]

My opinion is that the quality of food you get on the best night on Celebrity in the MDR is what you get every night on Cunard.

 

This completely contradicts the opinion of fellow cruisers on a recent Constellation sailing. They found their Cunard TA experience abysmal. Different sailing, different experience. They said they would never try Cunard again.

[teecee60]

I'd rather pay more and get what I've enjoyed in the past.

 

Thanks! I have taken your advice and started looking into the luxury / upscale cruise lines. Any thoughts on Regent?

 

They have a quaint little excursion on February first, 121 days from Sydney to London on Voyager for ONLY $69,699.00. :cool:

 

(That's a suite AND I think it INCLUDES both tips AND the drink package, what a DEAL!) :D :rolleyes:

Edited January 24, 2014 by teecee60

[kelmac]

My opinion is that the quality of food you get on the best night on Celebrity in the MDR is what you get every night on Cunard. Also the buffet food on Cunard is better than on Celebrity. Celebrity and HAL ( I would rate the food about equal on those two lines) do have better food than the other choices for the Caribbean but not as good as Cunard. Todd English on Cunard is better than any specialty restaurant I have been on on any other cruise line. That would be on Celebrity, HAL, Royal Caribbean, Azamara, Carnival, Princess and NCL.

 

Wow Charles:),

 

I would agree with you about MDR food on Celebrity being on-par with the MDR on Cunard. In addition, I love the fact that on Cunard the dining room is open for every meal. As for the buffet -- Celebrity's buffet is head and shoulders better than Cunard, in fact, Cunard has one of the worst buffets at sea!! Todd English is on par with the Tuscan Grill, but lacks compared to the alternative restaurants on the M-class ships, and Murano. IMO

 

HAL used to have food equal to Celebrity, but those days are gone. IMO

 

Fortunately the Mac-O-Meter is working tonight (sic):

 

Food Quality

 

Oceania -- 9.6

Azamara -- 9.4

Celebrity Blu -- 9.1

Celebrity -- 8.9

Cunard -- 8.7 (never dined in the Grills so I'm going to pass on them)

Holland America -- 8.4

Royal Caribbean Oasis Class -- 8.0

Royal Caribbean -- 7.7

Princess -- 7.7

NCL -- 6.8

 

mileage may vary!

As always,

Enjoy!

Kel:)

Edited January 24, 2014 by kelmac

[Charles4515]

This completely contradicts the opinion of fellow cruisers on a recent Constellation sailing. They found their Cunard TA experience abysmal. Different sailing, different experience. They said they would never try Cunard again.

 

I am going on my own experience. Not the experience of fellow cruisers. You should do a Cunard transatlantic on QM 2 once because it's an Ocean Liner experience and there is a lot of interesting Ocean Liner history on the ship. I enjoyed it but I won't do it again. It's too fussy for me.

 

I think for what you get Celebrity is a better value than Cunard. I do think Cunard food quality on the whole is better than Celebrity but not by that much. I would rather cruise on Celebrity.

 

As far as what the OP complains about, I do 3 or 4 cruise a year and have done one Celebrity cruise the last two. I thought everything was generally great. I was more satisfied with food and service than the cruises I did on other cruise lines the last two years. Complaints about entertainment, I can see where those are coming from but the type of cruises I was on in Europe I didn't really have much time for the shows.

Edited January 24, 2014 by Charles4515