Changes On Celebrity

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I like the idea posted in previous rumor threads that the wine machines are being removed from Cellar Masters to make room for beer selections after Michaels goes to a suite/ elite lounge. This is the best of both worlds IMO since us wine lovers still get to order by the glass (included in drink packages!) or bottles AND we get to socialize with the beer people! :D I think those machines were silly anyway given so many ppl take a drink package and the machines aren't included. I hope this is the case and celebrity doesn't do away with CM entirely. It was one of my favorite places - great selection of wines by glass.

 

We also liked this idea and hope it happens.

 

Mary Lou

[Orator]

On SIL now and haven't read the entire thread. Have heard some things from several sources on both Century and SIL. Cellar Masters will indeed be transformed. The idea is being kicked around that it will vary according to itineary. Feeling seems to be that it should vary theme and menu from time to time. Of course there will be extra charges to enjoy the venue. A special suite restaurant is a go. Location appears not to be set in stone.cutbacks have been noticeable on both Century and SIL, but enhancements for top Suite guests. Very clear that those who can afford added luxury will get it. This appears to be the market focus. Zenith members have great benefits, but top suites will even do better. Look for announcements soon from Celebrity.

[Bababooey Land]

Just returned from a wonderful 11 day cruise on Equinox, where I had the chance to listen to the Chief Engineer give talks on ships and the future of the cruise industry. The one thing he did say, after his formal talk, is that new ships "planned in the future for Celebrity" will be smaller, and based more on the M Class ships than on the S Class. The reason for this is because many cruise ports are complaining about the fact that the larger ships are straining the resources of the islands and ruining the sea bottom with their maneuvers and thrusters. The Chief said that he could not foresee new ships being larger, and many companies plan on only building smaller, more efficient ships.

 

First off..thanks for the excellent report!! I think many of these rumors make sense and spot on.

 

On to new builds...this is purely my opinion and speculation..based on my knowledge from what I see in the cruising industry.

 

I DO believe the next builds coming from Celebrity will be around 90,000 TONS or LESS.

 

here are the reasons:

 

1) the millennium class ships are getting old. I dont think another major refurb is in the cards for them.

2) In order to sail inside passage for Alaska..about 90,000 is MAX.

3) Celebrity is trying to differentiate itself from other cruise lines by sailing to new ports. Many ports CANNOT handle a larger ship. Smaller is IN right now.

4) Celebrity already has the "mega" solstice class ...i dont believe they need another mega ship..at least not for another 10 years ish.

5) I think the new ships might have similar tonnage as the Millennium class...BUT...will be a totally new layout. more cabins..more passengers. more cabin classes, and more fuel efficient. -SMALLER MDR. MORE specialty restaurants. more ways to spend onboard. Celebrity needs to find a way to pay for new ship builds and this is the way to do it. increase cabin prices, increase onboard spend, decrease costs.

 

IMHO, Celebrity can effectively rollout out a smaller ship (90,000 tons otor less)..and still create the same kind of margins that a Mega ship provides.

 

Again..this is just my opinion based from what I see.

[jkgourmet]

On SIL now and haven't read the entire thread. Have heard some things from several sources on both Century and SIL. Cellar Masters will indeed be transformed. The idea is being kicked around that it will vary according to itineary. Feeling seems to be that it should vary theme and menu from time to time. Of course there will be extra charges to enjoy the venue. A special suite restaurant is a go. Location appears not to be set in stone.cutbacks have been noticeable on both Century and SIL, but enhancements for top Suite guests. Very clear that those who can afford added luxury will get it. This appears to be the market focus. Zenith members have great benefits, but top suites will even do better. Look for announcements soon from Celebrity.

 

We are fans of inside guarantees. We just don't stay in the cabin enough to justify the added expense. It already disappointed us that we are not allowed to dine in Blu even if we paid an extra fee. To have yet another off limits, restricted restaurant is not good news to us.

 

As much as we like celebrity, I'm not encouraged about this direction.

 

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[need2bespoiled]

Sounds right, not sure what I was thinking with the "gas" comment. I was mostly referring to the ventilation, hoods etc. Tough to add that stuff in after the fact due to the sizes and high temp insulation. For what it's worth, I'm a retired HVAC/Plumbing contractor.

 

Thankfully it's on the top deck do ventilation should be a but easier.

 

For what it's worth when refitts like this happen, they're often willing to work 24/7 and many of the components are pre assembled to be able to be just dropped into place. Two twelve hour shifts can get a lot done in 12 days. They'd certainly be busy!

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna

[daisy-mae]

My only experience with Celebrity has been on the Solstice, and I really enjoyed the hot glass show. That said, we will be sailing on the Equinox on a Mediterranean cruise in September, and I find it a little odd to be experiencing on board glass blowing while in the heart of some of the most famous glass producing regions in Europe. Perhaps Celebrity has decided that it is a little redundant on their European sailings.

 

Also, is it possible that their arrangement requires the folks at Corning to pay for some of the travel expenses for their staff? If so, then there may be some reluctance to send folks off to Europe for the summer when their presence may be required at home during the tourist season. (Just a thought)

[leonardofan]

We actually prefer the smaller ships. It's nice that with all of the other cruise lines going to super, mega ships, X is deciding to go with 90 tons or less. We are sorry to see the century go away this year! They are just wonderful ships and if it helps the ecosystem, even better!

 

We would hate to loose bistro though!

 

 

As far as smaller ships go, what Royal Caribbean needs to do is invest in some newbuildings for Azamara--it's becoming increasingly irrelevant with Viking about to be double in size and Oceania already triple the size of Azamara.

[cruise kitty]

She was in drydock late '12 or early '13 if I recall correctly. I don't think her next ''regular'' one is imminent.

Cheers

 

Hi, thanks for your reply :)

 

Glad to know the glass show should still be in place for their cruise!

[poolwife]

Sorry to hear that quite a few people have posted that they had not had a good experience in Bistro on Five. We went twice on the Millenium in June, 2012 and loved it. Food was really good. We had dessert type crepes and soup. The soup was excellent and the nutella crepe with bananas (and we had them add fresh strawberries) were excellent.

 

We will be on the Silhouette starting this Sunday and I am excited to try it again. Hope the experience is as good.

 

I can't wait until work is done this week and packing finished and we land in Florida. I am sooo ready mentally for this cruise to begin.

[parallax]

Here are some random thoughts on this subject.

 

1. I think change in this industry is always necessary but it always seems that the cruise lines are behind the curve on what should be changed. They see a trend and try to incorporate it on the ship but by the time implement the trend is dead (see champagne bar, cigar bar, craft beer bar etc.). Gourmet burger places are being done to death so of course that is what Celebrity will sign up to do. Think outside of the box and try to be ahead of the curve. Sometimes new ideas won't work but when they do there is much more upside.

 

2. While economy of scale on the larger scales do create more revenue, I believe that it creates more mediocrity. The food and service tend to be of a lower quality and the ports of call tend to be less interesting. Count me as a fine of the smaller ships.

 

3. Changes aren't purely focused on obtaining new customers. Changes are important to get current customers interested and excited. They want to induce people to continue to cruise. For some people, change is necessary for that inducement.

[joetop2467]

Also keep in mind that on some itineraries, such as Australia and New Zealand, it is just too cold to go out there and watch the glass blowing. We enjoyed it the first day of our cruise on the Solstice last January! but it was way too cold to go back for the rest of the cruise even though we were really wanting to.

[Germancruiser]

I am absolutley not a fan of those monstrous Megaships- well when I started cruising RCI- Vision Class was considered- MEGA, now they are considered

" small" ships. Millenium Class is just the right size for me. The bigger and wider they get- the more they loose their conection to the " Sea " - as more and more bars, lounges are indoor. So hopefully they ( X) consider that with any new built! Besides that I absolutly hate the prommenade deck the Solstice Class ships got!

[jkgourmet]

I am absolutley not a fan of those monstrous Megaships- well when I started cruising RCI- Vision Class was considered- MEGA, now they are considered

" small" ships. Millenium Class is just the right size for me. The bigger and wider they get- the more they loose their conection to the " Sea " - as more and more bars, lounges are indoor. So hopefully they ( X) consider that with any new built! Besides that I absolutly hate the prommenade deck the Solstice Class ships got!

 

We are Considering solstice ships because they evidently have indoor pools for cold weather use. Can you explain what you hate about the promenade deck, please?

 

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[Germancruiser]

I sure can- there is just a little part of the prommenade deck were one can enjoy a great view- the rest is blocked with liveboats hanging there. Not very nice to walk around. So IMO there isn´t really a propper prommenade deck.

[wallie5446]

We are Considering solstice ships because they evidently have indoor pools for cold weather use. Can you explain what you hate about the promenade deck, please?

 

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Here is a shot from our balcony on deck 9, on the Reflection of the so called Promenade. Is is OK, but does not wrap and as you can see, the view is blocked by the life boats.

[wallie5446]

Another shot,

[Germancruiser]

Well thanks for the pictures- they tell it all and clear- sometimes a picture says more than a thousand words.

[fleckle]

...... Can you explain what you hate about the promenade deck, please?

 

I sure can- there is just a little part of the prommenade deck were one can enjoy a great view- the rest is blocked with liveboats hanging there. Not very nice to walk around. So IMO there isn´t really a propper prommenade deck.

 

Solstice promenade deck

- photos from Subtchr

 

 

[jkgourmet]

Yikes! For those if us who prefer inside cabins, it appears that these S Class ships really don't have great outdoor public areas.

 

You're making those HAL ships with the retractable roofs over their pool area look like the better choice for cold weather sailings.

 

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[grayjay]

Don't forget there's a jogging track on deck 14. If you not averse to climbing the stairs you can enlarge your promenade by climbing up to deck 15 where the lawn is. But I agree with you that a "promenade deck" is a weak point on the S-Class ships. We loved the M-class ships before they were "solsticized" - a full wrap-around deck tp walk on!

We're trying out Cunard this year - let's see what they'll have in that category!

[CABINET]

If I remember rightly on our last Eclipse cruise in August there were no white wines at all available in those machines in Cellar Masters and not many red wines either.

 

We used to go there to read while allowing our steward to service our cabin and were usually the only people in there apart from occasional visits from ships staff but, of course, you wouldn't expect it to be busy during the morning.

 

Howeer, it was pretty empty in the evenings too and I suppose if the wine dispensers aren't working there's no real reason to go in there at all.

 

I would not be surprised to see it go.

Edited February 27, 2014 by CABINET

[KBD1516]

Could see Cellar Masters being used as a wine/specialty beer venue, but since they don't have a kitchen how would they prepare pub style meals.

 

One thing I can add to this is how they do it on Royal Caribbean Liberty in the pub. On sea days they have lunch there and bring in hot trays of fish, ships, and mushy peas. The head chef is a British woman. The entertainer (guitarist) payed during lunch. We found it to be one of our favorite places to hang out.

 

 

 

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[Germancruiser]

Great pictures - and they give the exact impression of that ( almost) nonexitend prommenade deck. So I also prefer the Milli Class over the Solstice Class- well to be fair Solstice Class ships also have great outdoor areas on the higher up decks. Solstice Deck for example or the whole lawn area!