Celebrity , it's time to take notice

[chamima]

As I read about cuts in service, entertainment and quality on Celebrity it was nice to read about this on the Princess forum.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2110545

 

 

I wish someone in corporate would take notice of this way to increase profits - the opposite of cutting back - up the quality so customers (and not just those in suites) will want to sail your ships.

[ECCruise]

As I read about cuts in service, entertainment and quality on Celebrity it was nice to read about this on the Princess forum.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2110545

 

 

I wish someone in corporate would take notice of this way to increase profits - the opposite of cutting back - up the quality so customers (and not just those in suites) will want to sail your ships.

 

Although that thread does show some happy Princess cruisers, I think you will find the same thing here.

 

However, I totally agree with you. Having been sailing on Celebrity for around 15 years, 20 cruises, 200 days or so, you would have to be totally unaware not to notice some of the changes. Many, many long-time cruisers (including Zenith cruisers) have mentioned the same, Not that the Celebrity experience is bad--it isn't--but it is not as good as it was. This does NOT mean that if you sailed Celebrity last week for the first time and felt that it was wonderful, that you opinion doesn't matter (this always rears it ugly head). It means that it is wonderful that you enjoyed your cruise, but when someone mentions that some of the changes have not been for the positive, that they are whining, saying the sky is falling, constant complainers, etc. etc. etc.

 

It simply means that they have a different--and long-term--view of the situation that an infrequent or new cruiser simply cannot share.

 

And, in response to your comment, as a shareholder almost as long as we have been sailing with them and someone who ran a successful business that largely allowed us to retire at ages 44 and 34, is that the way to continued (as opposed to one-shot to pump the equity price) profitability is to give superior service at a reasonable price while raising the bar rather than lowering it.

[chamima]

Although that thread does show some happy Princess cruisers, I think you will find the same thing here.

 

However, I totally agree with you. Having been sailing on Celebrity for around 15 years, 20 cruises, 200 days or so, you would have to be totally unaware not to notice some of the changes. Many, many long-time cruisers (including Zenith cruisers) have mentioned the same, Not that the Celebrity experience is bad--it isn't--but it is not as good as it was. This does NOT mean that if you sailed Celebrity last week for the first time and felt that it was wonderful, that you opinion doesn't matter (this always rears it ugly head). It means that it is wonderful that you enjoyed your cruise, but when someone mentions that some of the changes have not been for the positive, that they are whining, saying the sky is falling, constant complainers, etc. etc. etc.

 

It simply means that they have a different--and long-term--view of the situation that an infrequent or new cruiser simply cannot share.

 

And, in response to your comment, as a shareholder almost as long as we have been sailing with them and someone who ran a successful business that largely allowed us to retire at ages 44 and 34, is that the way to continued (as opposed to one-shot to pump the equity price) profitability is to give superior service at a reasonable price while raising the bar rather than lowering it.

 

 

 

Thank you.

EXACTLY the point I was trying to make.

I'm seeing a lot of short-sighted decisions that I keep hoping will , on further reflection on Celebrity's part, reverse themselves.

[NLH Arizona]

I guess I'm confused, aren't Celebrity ships sailing full, if so I guess it shows that customers want to sail their ships.

 

I've seen reviews from both new cruisers and long time cruises where there has been no issues with the food. The food might have changed over the years, but it is still better than comparable lines. It would be interesting to see a review from a Celebrity cruises who just cruised on Princess, to see the difference in the quality of the food.

[ECCruise]

I guess I'm confused, aren't Celebrity ships sailing full, if so I guess it shows that customers want to sail their ships.

 

I've seen reviews from both new cruisers and long time cruises where there has been no issues with the food. The food might have changed over the years, but it is still better than comparable lines. It would be interesting to see a review from a Celebrity cruises who just cruised on Princess, to see the difference in the quality of the food.

 

Please name a legacy cruise line that is not sailing full. I can't find any.

[A1A]

Hi Karen,

We just returned from a 5 day Princess cruise on the Caribbean Princess out of Ft Lauderdale. Not sure if it was the same cruise, but it was the same ship and crew. We are Princess and Celebrity cruisers and are happy with both lines, although there is always room for improvement. Didn't want to give the impression that the grass is greener on the other side, however, Princess too is having some growing pains and cutbacks although not prevalent they are noticeable.

 

These particular 4 and 5 day cruise review may not be the best ones to compare with the Celebrity product. These short trips are attracting lot's of Florida Cruisers, and in my opinion, lots of first time Princess cruisers some coming from Carnival, NCL or others. Our cruise sailed at 80% capacity and is giving rooms away at $199.00 per person. It also came with a generous $200.00 per person on board credit. If my wife and I could cruise on Celebrity for $398.00 total and receive $400.00 on board credit, I am sure we could overlook a few of the cut backs the line made.

 

I haven't been on Celebrity for a couple of years but am sailing in April on the Silhouette. Perhaps I could give a better comparison at that time. I hope Celebrity continues to raise it's bar as so far we are satisfied customers

[obnurse]

We just finished a 7 day on Caribbean Princess and after sailing Celebrity the 3 prior cruises, I can say there was a difference in the two and Celebrity won out hands down, in our opinion. Was it bad? No....we had a wonderful time. But, there were some distinct differences. When I took my first shower on board, I noticed a hair clip left in the shower from the previous passengers.....makes me wonder how well the steward cleaned. They changed some of the desserts but not for the better. The cheesecake used to be excellent, but this time we passed on it....it was lousy. We always open the balcony door between our cabins, but the door didn't open all the way and was angled onto our balcony, blocking part of our view and banging during the night. The cabin steward ended up tying an extension cord around it to keep it from banging (we appreciated that very much). The dining room experience was pretty similar, but the buffet Celebrity wins again. More variety by far. The salad bar on celebrity was wonderful with lots of choices. I made a nice big salad every day at lunch but on Princess the choices were very limited. Overall I would rate our latest Princess cruise 4 stars, but our latest Celebrity cruise 5 stars. Both great, but Celebrity wins by a nose!

[barbels]

On my recent Eclipse cruise I did not feel that any of the cut backs impacted me . In fact I thought that the food in the MDR was better than my 2 previous trips.

o course Perry Grant was on the ship and we saw him every night so I can't say I saw a problem with entertainment on the ship. In fact the other acts we saw, especially Mike Doyle, ranged from good to wonderful. Maybe it's just that Eclipse is a special ship with a special crew but we had one of our best cruises ever.

[NLH Arizona]

We just finished a 7 day on Caribbean Princess and after sailing Celebrity the 3 prior cruises, I can say there was a difference in the two and Celebrity won out hands down, in our opinion. Was it bad? No....we had a wonderful time. But, there were some distinct differences. When I took my first shower on board, I noticed a hair clip left in the shower from the previous passengers.....makes me wonder how well the steward cleaned. They changed some of the desserts but not for the better. The cheesecake used to be excellent, but this time we passed on it....it was lousy. We always open the balcony door between our cabins, but the door didn't open all the way and was angled onto our balcony, blocking part of our view and banging during the night. The cabin steward ended up tying an extension cord around it to keep it from banging (we appreciated that very much). The dining room experience was pretty similar, but the buffet Celebrity wins again. More variety by far. The salad bar on celebrity was wonderful with lots of choices. I made a nice big salad every day at lunch but on Princess the choices were very limited. Overall I would rate our latest Princess cruise 4 stars, but our latest Celebrity cruise 5 stars. Both great, but Celebrity wins by a nose!

Thanks for your expertise. One really has to cruise on both lines to really compare them.

[Ray in NH]

I guess I'm confused, aren't Celebrity ships sailing full, if so I guess it shows that customers want to sail their ships.

 

I've seen reviews from both new cruisers and long time cruises where there has been no issues with the food. The food might have changed over the years, but it is still better than comparable lines. It would be interesting to see a review from a Celebrity cruises who just cruised on Princess, to see the difference in the quality of the food.

 

Please name a legacy cruise line that is not sailing full. I can't find any.

 

Sailing at full capacity, but at what costs due to discounting ?

Ray in NH

[chamima]

Thank you.

EXACTLY the point I was trying to make.

I'm seeing a lot of short-sighted decisions that I keep hoping will , on further reflection on Celebrity's part, reverse themselves.

 

 

We HAVE cruised both lines extensively. (We're Elite on both)

(As recently as last Feb. , 14 days on Celebrity followed immediately by a week on Princess. Food and service on Princess was head and tails better! This was before the cuts in activity staff and classical musicians on Celebrity)

 

There are positives and negatives on each.

 

I'm just talking about the direction I see each line going in.

I am NOT posting just to complain!

We (so far) like Celebrity and , as I keep repeating and repeating, hope they will see the shortsightedness of some recent decisions.

[NLH Arizona]

Sailing at full capacity, but at what costs due to discounting ?

 

Ray in NH

Tell me one cruise line that isn't doing it? Edited October 5, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[NLH Arizona]

We HAVE cruised both lines extensively. (We're Elite on both)

(As recently as last Feb. , 14 days on Celebrity followed immediately by a week on Princess. Food and service on Princess was head and tails better! This was before the cuts in activity staff and classical musicians on Celebrity)

 

There are positives and negatives on each.

 

I'm just talking about the direction I see each line going in.

I am NOT posting just to complain!

We (so far) like Celebrity and , as I keep repeating and repeating, hope they will see the shortsightedness of some recent decisions.

Don't you see the same complaints that you see on here on the Princess site. I've read posts this summer sighting cutbacks in service on Princess and have read that the food isn't like it was years ago.

[yorky]

I doubt you will find a single mass market cruise line where some people are not complaining about cuts in one way or another, along with more upsellng, it's the way the cruise industry has gone from say 30 years ago when you had a certain section of society that were cruisers, it's now mass market and in some cases Butlins at sea. Different world unless you go way upmarket and can pay for it.

[Ray in NH]

Sailing at full capacity, but at what costs due to discounting ?

 

Ray in NH

 

Tell me one cruise line that isn't doing it?

 

Did not say any one line is doing it exclusively. Just about every transportation system would probably like to operate at full capacity, to maximize revenue.

However, if my hypotheses offend you -- I'm out of this discussion.

Ray in NH

[curiouscat]

We HAVE cruised both lines extensively. (We're Elite on both)

(As recently as last Feb. , 14 days on Celebrity followed immediately by a week on Princess. Food and service on Princess was head and tails better! This was before the cuts in activity staff and classical musicians on Celebrity)

 

There are positives and negatives on each.

 

I'm just talking about the direction I see each line going in.

I am NOT posting just to complain!

We (so far) like Celebrity and , as I keep repeating and repeating, hope they will see the shortsightedness of some recent decisions.

 

It will be interesting for us to compare our last Princess cruise on the Emerald to the upcoming sailing on Reflection. To me the lines are so blurred and some things I really like about Princess and some things about X...

 

I thought Princess cut back on entertainment. No more Jazz band and the band or whatever it was in the atrium was so awful :(

 

I think it's like buying a car or house... you go for the most features/benefits that you like for the value. But you ain't going to get it all...:p

 

CC

[Orator]

We all look for different things and have our favorite lines. Our money, our choices. To state the obvious: Cruise lines are profit making businesses and the largest are publically owned companies whose primary responsibility is to stock holders. It would be instructive to those who criticize the business strategies of any line to read what the investment community says and what official filings and Conference calls say. Here are some facts, not opinions, gleaned from a review of RCI.

1. Future sales are very strong. Asia is particiculary strong and Europe appears to be recovering.

2. Prices have increased and there is less discounting.

3. Ships are sailing at an increased capacity. Now at 104%

4. RCL stock is at record highs.

5. Margins are increasing.

 

My opinion, others free to disagree since it's opinion

Celebrity's strategy to attract higher end cruisers appears to be working. Future Suite bookings appear strong at significantly higher prices. Princess and HAL are owned by CCL. Might want to check their filings and stock prices for comparison. Draw your own conclusions.

The Sky might be falling for some individuals, but overall RCI should be quite pleased with the bottom line results.

[NLH Arizona]

Did not say any one line is doing it exclusively. Just about every transportation system would probably like to operate at full capacity, to maximize revenue.

 

However, if my hypotheses offend you -- I'm out of this discussion.

 

Ray in NH

I think the point is that every cruise lines deep discounts to fill their ships and you can find posts on here about every cruise line where people have an issue that the service and food are not like they were. The cost of goods and services have gone up since I started cruising Celebrity in 2001 and if Celebrity, or any other cruise line for that fact, is going to keep their fares down so that more people can cruise things can't be like they were back then.

[Cruise Raider]

We HAVE cruised both lines extensively. (We're Elite on both)

(As recently as last Feb. , 14 days on Celebrity followed immediately by a week on Princess. Food and service on Princess was head and tails better! This was before the cuts in activity staff and classical musicians on Celebrity)

 

There are positives and negatives on each.

 

I'm just talking about the direction I see each line going in.

I am NOT posting just to complain!

We (so far) like Celebrity and , as I keep repeating and repeating, hope they will see the shortsightedness of some recent decisions.

 

We have Elite status on both as well, although, I must admit, Celebrity does beat out Princess in our opinion. We were just on a B2B, sort of, first leg on the Solstice and the 2nd leg on the Island Princess, so will compare these two.

I know I won't be able to name them all but here are just a few things I liked about these two lines:

 

Elite Benefits:

The elite benefits on Celebrity include some free laundry and a couple of items of free items of dry cleaning and pressing, where it is all complimentary on Princess. Although on Princess, we just got a note that it would be 3 days minimum to deliver your clean clothes. Because this was a 3 day cruise, it was obvious they were just trying to keep people from using this service. So point goes to Celebrity on this one.

 

The elite benefits on Celebrity include an evening cocktail hour where the drinks are complimentary. There is also one on Princess but you have to pay for the drinks. We had such a hard time finding a waiter that we didn't order anything. So, service on Celebrity wins out on this one.

 

The elite benefits include breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants each morning with specialty coffee, mimosas, bloody marys and a small but delicious menu. To my knowledge, Princess only has this for suite passengers, but correct me if this is incorrect. If so, Celebrity gets the point on this one.

 

They both have priority boarding, priority tendering and a complimentary wine tasting event so a tie for this.

 

Princess gives you a free mini bar set up in your room, one per cruise. This includes water, beer, mini's of vodka, gin, etc, sodas. Princess wins on this one.

 

Overall:

The internet on Princess is worlds above that of Celebrity. I used nearly all of my minutes just trying to log on a couple of times. Princess gets the point on this one.

 

The rooms on Celebrity usually include a small or pull out sofa. The same cabin type on Princess only has a chair. Celebrity gets the point on this one.

 

The open closet design on Princess beats that of those on Celebrity every time.

 

The bathrooms and especially the showers with doors rather than curtains on Celebrity are much larger, have much more storage than those on Princess.

 

The food on Princess used to be the best. Celebrity has far surpassed Princess all the way around in this aspect, especially in the buffet. So point goes to Celebrity on this one but know food is so subjective.

 

The entertainment on Celebrity was beyond excellent on this last cruise and on the Princess cruise, it was good but not outstanding. Point goes to Celebrity here.

 

Both these cruises had excellent cruise directors and cabin stewards so tie on both these lines.

 

Drinks are a bit more reasonably priced on Princess but Celebrity oftentimes includes a free beverage package with some bookings so point has to go to Celebrity on this one.

 

As mentioned, I haven't included everything but hit quite a few of the topics that oftentimes are mentioned that have an affect on the enjoyment of passengers. I know it also largely depends on the actual ship and crew, so was just comparing these two recent cruises.

 

We continue to sail with Princess because of their itineraries. This is the only cruiseline that consistently sails out of San Francisco -- so point (huge point) goes to Princess on this one.

[miched]

It is a lot easier to achieve Elite status on Celebrity compared to Princess and as stated Ina previous post the benefits for being Elite on Princess aren't as good.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[hulamoon]

Orator...I appreciate your posting. So weary of hearing that Celebrity must cut this or that or it will die. It's a profitable choice to increase benefits to upper suites and raise fares for everyone. However, the long term benefit cannot be seen as of yet.

 

In other words if those cuts send more shopping or to higher end lines.

[Lady Chew]

 

The open closet design on Princess beats that of those on Celebrity every time.

 

.

 

What does this mean - no doors? :eek:

[chamima]

It is a lot easier to achieve Elite status on Celebrity compared to Princess and as stated Ina previous post the benefits for being Elite on Princess aren't as good.

 

Happy cruising

 

I guess that is also a personal preference. We think the Princess benefits far exceed those on Celebrity for us.

We get a LOT more internet time (usually 250 minutes pp vs. 90)

Unlimited laundry AND dry cleaning.

Also , for us the 5:00 - 7:00 lounge (Celebrity) is inconvenient as we eat late so are still in our bathing suits (which are not even close to "acceptable attire" for the lounge) and the in-room free mini bar set up (Princess) allows us to drink at our leisure.

We also get a small frequent cruiser OBC and combinable with almost any fare stock OBC and FCC OBC.

 

 

However, we LOVE the small dining room, Blu, that is only available on Celebrity, we love the beautiful Solarium pools, love the drink package that has been included recently and love the true 14 day Caribbean itinerary that Princess no longer offers.

 

 

What does this mean - no doors? :eek:

 

The closet is in a hallway with the bathroom door on one side , the open closet on the other and a shelf unit with the safe in it on the end wall. A full length mirror is on the wall opposite of that that opens to the rest of the cabin. it's a small dressing area that's very convenient.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=43697753&highlight=closet#post43697753

 

This picture is from a mini-suite so the tub in the picture would be a shower in a balcony cabin but the rest of the layout is accurate.

(Also, that whole area with the sofa and second TV is only for mini suites) I was just trying to find an accurate representation of the closet area.

Edited October 5, 2014 by chamima

[Christine Frances]

Princess people sure have a fixation with laundry:) There are nine Celebrity ships and 23 Royal Caribbean ships that don't have self serve laundry or free laundry at the Diamond or Elite level. You would think Princess would be busting at the seams with people wanting to sail with them to get this valuable perk. DH and I could do a 14 night cruise just fine with our 60 items of free laundry (don't even think we pack that much lol).

And that mini bar would last us a couple of nights (beer and wine only) What ever would we do for the next 12 days?

[Cruise Raider]

What does this mean - no doors? :eek:

 

Yes, they are described as walk in closets and are located directly across from the bathrooms. While I like many more things on Celebrity, this is one Princess has that is so much better. There are no doors to fight with each time you want to grab something out of the closet. Plenty of room for everything - with shelving up above. You can even put that little table in there and use it to lay out your clothes for after your shower. Very convenient design.