Is Celebrity going to a two-class system?

[lysolqn]

What does drive me crazy.... Is those who want to tell he world about their PERCEIVED STATUS...

 

The operative phrase in your post is 'PERCEIVED STATUS'. While suite pax may enjoy more luxurious accommodations and some extra amenities, their status is no different than that of other pax, except perhaps, in their own minds. Just MHO.

[Orator]

Some people may be treated differently. I know that from personal experience. I've always been treated well and only once had a complaint about service. As I cruised more frequently I found many of the officers and crew recognized me. As time went on I developed relationships with many and as one indicatedI was becoming a member of the family. Service was ramped up as crew learned my preferences. Ginger Ale would be brought to me at Elite Hour without my asking. The first time I was "top cruiser" I noticed elevated attention, much not really wanted. Flowers sent to the cabin by the Hotel Director. Invitations to special events. Invitations to dinner. Hard to believe but even more attention now as a Zenith. DW and I have been invited toa dinners in a Specialty Restaurant with Captain and Senior Officers. On my last cruise the Captain called our cabin prior to the Muster Drill to personally welcome us. I understand that one reason we get the service and attention is that we are good customers and companies want to make their best customers happy. They don't want to lose the income. Another factor might be how we have interacted with many crew over the years. We've always provided a listening ear when they wanted to vent or ask for advice. I am not alone among the most frequent cruisers. Special relationships have been forged over the years. We've all seen Waiters who are now Restaurant Managers and Safety Officers who a now Masters. Should mention that there are some rare exceptions. I know one Captain who refuses to sit with. One frequent cruiser and I can understand why. A sense of entitlement is strng negative among the staff. Service actually goes down if they sense a passenger feels entitled. This is my perspective from my experience.

[Sloop-JohnB]

The operative phrase in your post is 'PERCEIVED STATUS'. While suite pax may enjoy more luxurious accommodations and some extra amenities, their status is no different than that of other pax, except perhaps, in their own minds. Just MHO.

 

Exactly my point.

 

Some people do believe that they are better than others "flashing their cards" at a bar... Or mutter in line "really, I am Celebrity Elite, I expect better"

 

But seriously...

 

That only means they paid more than someone else

 

When it comes to a situation where there is a line up like a Bar, Buffet etc (and not a Celebrity advertised Class Perk like E-Day or D-Day) then they are indeed the same as everyone else

 

I don't think that Celebity has 2 Classes of Pax

 

But SOME who have paid more be that short-term (Concierge - Aqua - Suites) or long term (Celebrity Elites & higher) and therefore do have different coloured SeaPass Cards do at times believe that their PERCEIVED STATUS qualifies them for more than they actually paid for (was advertised / outlined by Celebrity)

 

As I said, THANKFULLY they are a very small group

 

And lol, also thanfully their are some brave souls who will occasionally let these folks when they are exhibiting their bad behavior let the know that they are out of line (pun intended)

 

" Excuse me maam, But we all were here waiting before you arrived. "

 

Cheers!

[Sloop-JohnB]

Some people may be treated differently. I know that from personal experience. I've always been treated well and only once had a complaint about service. As I cruised more frequently I found many of the officers and crew recognized me. As time went on I developed relationships with many and as one indicatedI was becoming a member of the family. Service was ramped up as crew learned my preferences. Ginger Ale would be brought to me at Elite Hour without my asking. The first time I was "top cruiser" I noticed elevated attention, much not really wanted. Flowers sent to the cabin by the Hotel Director. Invitations to special events. Invitations to dinner. Hard to believe but even more attention now as a Zenith. DW and I have been invited toa dinners in a Specialty Restaurant with Captain and Senior Officers. On my last cruise the Captain called our cabin prior to the Muster Drill to personally welcome us. I understand that one reason we get the service and attention is that we are good customers and companies want to make their best customers happy. They don't want to lose the income. Another factor might be how we have interacted with many crew over the years. We've always provided a listening ear when they wanted to vent or ask for advice. I am not alone among the most frequent cruisers. Special relationships have been forged over the years. We've all seen Waiters who are now Restaurant Managers and Safety Officers who a now Masters.

 

Should mention that there are some rare exceptions. I know one Captain who refuses to sit with. One frequent cruiser and I can understand why. A sense of entitlement is strng negative among the staff. Service actually goes down if they sense a passenger feels entitled. This is my perspective from my experience.

 

Yes but that s not quite the same thing... Those are people being nice to you, because they have gotten to know you over the years as the person you truly are

 

Not YOU demanding attention because of WHO you are nor because you have attained a particular level in the Captain's Club

 

Some just see themselves more important because of WHO they think they are (real or imagined) or their PERCEIVED STATUS (Suite Class - Zenith, etc)

 

ORATOR you and I have never met, but from your posts I can tell you are a classy & gracious individual

 

The type we are talking about here, are not

 

Like the cruiser you referred to at the end of your post

 

BIG difference

 

Cheers!

Edited October 24, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB
Edit to fix wording to be more clear

[cle-guy]

Some people may be treated differently. I know that from personal experience. I've always been treated well and only once had a complaint about service.

 

[sNIP]

 

I know one Captain who refuses to sit with. One frequent cruiser and I can understand why. A sense of entitlement is strng negative among the staff. Service actually goes down if they sense a passenger feels entitled. This is my perspective from my experience.

 

A frequent cruiser who is a good customer IMHO deserves special attention and consideration far more than someone who has simply booked a particular cabin. As you stated, it's good business sense to identify your regulars and keep them happy.

 

I tend to think the more frequent one cruises the less they care to be thought of as special and singled out. They (we) just look to be comfortable and cared for in a manner the cruise line is known to do. I think I also tend to look the other way on lots of small issues that arise the more I cruise, as a realist things can't always be 110% of expectations.

[K.T.B.]

The classic "Don't you know who I am" scenario. :eek:.

 

A bit off topic here...

 

For many years I collected comics. About 3 years ago I stopped because I wasn't enjoying them as much and they were collecting dust basically.

 

Anyway, in my youth (late teens, early 20's), I was what was known as a "letterhack". I had numerous letters printed in the books' letters of comments pages. I had enough of them printed that some people at conventions recognized my name. :)

 

Fast forward a couple of decades or so. On one of my Carnival cruises, my wife and I were talking to some people at the bar during a sea day. As I introduced myself (As Kevin Brown) that guy got funny look on his face. e asked me if my full name was "Kevin T. Brown". Now I had the funny look as I said "yes......." All of a sudden I'm a celebrity! It turns out he remembered my letters from 2+ decades ago. (Yeah, I had a lot of them printed....) Next hour or so was spent talking comics. :D

 

What are the odds of that happening? Especially on a cruise ship in the Caribbean! :eek: :p

 

Sorry for the tangent, but the "don't you know who I am" comment only works if someone knows you! :p

[cody cruiser]

We just received notification from Celebrity about our Nov 1 Reflection sailing and the embarkation process. We are being "classed" by deck. While we are in a 1A cabin, we still have one of the last boarding times, which means we change our plans for the day. I get that all the suite passengers board first but am unhappy we are being told when to board and that it is so late. :(

[wallie5446]

We just received notification from Celebrity about our Nov 1 Reflection sailing and the embarkation process. We are being "classed" by deck. While we are in a 1A cabin, we still have one of the last boarding times, which means we change our plans for the day. I get that all the suite passengers board first but am unhappy we are being told when to board and that it is so late. :(

 

Is this a 'suggested' arrival time, or a show up before that that take a seat and wait till the cows come in time to board?:D

 

We got a simuliar email last year, got to the port around 11:00, went thru the ck in and scan, and were sent straight to an open agent, processed, and on the gang plank :eek: we were sent to get a glass of bubbly!

 

IMHO, this is more about trying to space us out a bit and avoid the mass rush of pax all at one time. 80,000+ People attending a function at Jerry world:rolleyes: all try and get in at almost the same time, it dont happen.

 

Have a great cruise.

[cody cruiser]

Thank you for responding. What was your 'suggested' arrival time?

[Sloop-JohnB]

Is this a 'suggested' arrival time, or a show up before that that take a seat and wait till the cows come in time to board?:D

 

We got a simuliar email last year, got to the port around 11:00, went thru the ck in and scan, and were sent straight to an open agent, processed, and on the gang plank :eek: we were sent to get a glass of bubbly!

 

IMHO, this is more about trying to space us out a bit and avoid the mass rush of pax all at one time. 80,000+ People attending a function at Jerry world:rolleyes: all try and get in at almost the same time, it dont happen.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Ya I thought perhaps the same thing...

 

Lol, fortunately for CODY CRUISER tho even if he shows up as per the time given by Celebrity... He'll still get aboard before the cows you referenced in your post :D

 

http://www.megalithic.co.uk/a558/a312/gallery/humour/Stonehenge_Cartoons/NoahsArkJoke.jpg

 

Unfortunately, unable to post pics right now... My comments & yours would be much funnier with the pic.

 

Thanks for my chuckle of the day

 

Cheers!

[cody cruiser]

Sloop, you're hilarious...love the cartoon and boarding alphabetically would put us on the ship third.:D

[cle-guy]

We just received notification from Celebrity about our Nov 1 Reflection sailing and the embarkation process. We are being "classed" by deck. While we are in a 1A cabin, we still have one of the last boarding times, which means we change our plans for the day. I get that all the suite passengers board first but am unhappy we are being told when to board and that it is so late. :(

 

This really is all about spacing out arrivals to avoid the mass rush and bottlenecks. Like how airlines board by group numbers often.

 

However, I'm not sure how successful it is.

 

Captain's Club (any level), Suites, Concierge, Aqua can all board as they wish.

 

I did receive an email privately this week from someone asking about Coast Guard inspections, and in that case no one gets on until the inspection is done. This was RE: Summit in San Juan though, so doubt it's relevant to Reflection. In that case, I told the person to follow the arrival time to avoid waiting for no reason.

 

Reflection is X's highest capacity ship, so anything to space out arrivals is helpful.

 

But as a matter of course, no one is going to turn you away at the door if you get there during any part of the boarding process, but the more that follow the suggestions, the more smoothly everything will flow with fewer bottlenecks. Everyone goes thru the same security channel, and everyone boards on the same gangplank, regardless of status, class or cabin category.

 

I've noticed this happens occasionally, especially in smaller ports with less than user friendly terminals. It doesn't seem to be an across the board all ships or even the same ship all the time in a particular port, may have to do with the physical passenger counts, as in if they have an unusual number of double, triple and quad occupancy passengers that will add to the number of people needing processed.

Edited October 24, 2014 by cle-guy

[Sloop-JohnB]

Sloop, you're hilarious...love the cartoon and boarding alphabetically would put us on the ship third.:D

 

Lol... So you are listed on the manifest as Abba ? :D

 

Cheers!

[cle-guy]

Thank you for responding. What was your 'suggested' arrival time?

 

I think the cruise documents package you can view on-line on your X website provides a schedule of boarding times for all passengers by deck, when this system is used, to refer to - the same package that has the printable luggage tag in it.

[newyorkray]

It seems to us that there are at least a couple of single treatment lines-- Seabourn and Crystal come to mind. Whatever Cabin you are in, you get the same perks and treatment . Other than the additional space, there does not seem to be any difference in "class of service" .

 

We are somewhat troubled by the direction X is taking further dividing the service by cabin type-- you begin to feel that if you do not upgrade cabin type, you won't get their best service/food/quality and the ship will be divided into the have's and have nots.

 

We are looking at Med cruises in 2015 or 16 and it if you compare the suite cost on X to the regular rooms on Crystal, Crystal is way less expensive but all you give up is space-- service is top of the line, food is great and all cabins are all inclusive for everyone. So it appears to us that this move to multi class structure is making the high end cruises more compelling and reasonable.

 

Does anyone else see this and is anyone else troubled by this trend?

 

I know what you mean. I fell in loving with cruising after my first cruise with Celebrity 18 years ago. We always cruised Celebrity because I tend to be loyal if I'm happy with the service or product. I have to admit, while not rich people, my goal was to reach "Elite" status (which I did just as they created new categories!), just because I thought we would enjoy worthwhile perks. Well the perks aren't worth it. I thought priority boarding would be great but after security (which isn't priority) the lines to check in move well for all. My wife and I are typical middle class people. Both of us work very hard in very stressful occupations. When I go on vacation we like to live our fantasy as if money doesn't matter. Since Celebrity created the "Concierge" category, that was what we booked, in fact always C1, for the reason you mentioned, I thought upgrading meant a little special service. Truth is, it's not worth the difference. The higher level suites are just beyond our reach if we did that on all vacations and I don't think it's worth it for the little time we spend in the cabin. I certainly am not an "Elitist" just like better service when on vacation, we worked hard for it. But I definitely do not want Celebrity to turn into a "class" system anymore than it already is. I don't like all the changes and, yes, it begins to make me take a look at other cruise lines. I love everybody (well almost) I've met on cruises and the MDR is great for meeting people from all over.

[newyorkray]

All the mass market (and luxury lines also, for that matter) have suites with added benefits. I doubt anyone will know or care what cabin you are in. Most people are too busy just enjoying their vacation that worry about someone else.

 

Afterthought: Twice aboard a Royal Caribbean ship, we've happened to meet people that were in the Royal Family Suite (I think that's what it's called...the suite with the baby grand). Anyway, those people were so excited to be in the cabin they were bursting at the seams. In a very positive, good way. Both groups invited us to tour the cabin which was very nice. I'll never book that cabin but it was fun to see. Neither were snobbish or pretentious. Not that it doesn't happen.

 

Funny you mention the people on RCL. I have always cruised Celebrity but last year my extended family went on a cruise and picked the Breakaway from New York. Since they felt I was a frequent cruiser, I was asked to make the bookings. I had a balcony cabin. A week before the cruise Norwegian called me offering a suite in the "exclusive" Haven for additional $500. The suite goes for about $6,000 for 2. We decided we may never get the chance again so we did. We are also very down to earth and not "pretentious". It was beautiful, 2 bedrooms, living room, 3 TV's!!!! I tried to get my family to come and enjoy it with us but they had little time with all the ships activities. We ate in the ship's MDR all but once. The "elite" dining room for Haven guests was really nice but we only ate there once. Spending time with our family in the "common" ships areas was more important!!! But it was nice!!

[MicCanberra]

I see comments like this and really have to shake my head. I have never, on any cruise, seen someone doing what I would call "flashing a whatever pass" to try to get better service. Whether it's a different colored card to indicate they're in a suite, or a different colored card to indicate higher loyalty status, I've never seen one being "flashed." Do people have them in their hand as they wait to order? Absolutely. "Flashing it" to get better service implies to me that they are waving it around, shoving it in the bartender's face, or in some way trying explicitly to bring attention to it....as if to say, "look at me, look at my card, it's another color so I deserve better service than these other people." And I have never seen that happen. IMHO comments like these are conjured up in the minds of people who would like to THINK others are getting better service than they are because they wish they were in a suite or wish they were at a higher loyalty level. Just my .02

I have seen and heard people be very demanding and rude and saying that they are such and such level to get what they want, but generally don't wave their card to do it. Thankfully, these people a very rare.:D

[MicCanberra]

A bit off topic here...

 

For many years I collected comics. About 3 years ago I stopped because I wasn't enjoying them as much and they were collecting dust basically.

 

Anyway, in my youth (late teens, early 20's), I was what was known as a "letterhack". I had numerous letters printed in the books' letters of comments pages. I had enough of them printed that some people at conventions recognized my name. :)

 

Fast forward a couple of decades or so. On one of my Carnival cruises, my wife and I were talking to some people at the bar during a sea day. As I introduced myself (As Kevin Brown) that guy got funny look on his face. e asked me if my full name was "Kevin T. Brown". Now I had the funny look as I said "yes......." All of a sudden I'm a celebrity! It turns out he remembered my letters from 2+ decades ago. (Yeah, I had a lot of them printed....) Next hour or so was spent talking comics. :D

 

What are the odds of that happening? Especially on a cruise ship in the Caribbean! :eek: :p

 

Sorry for the tangent, but the "don't you know who I am" comment only works if someone knows you! :p

 

Funny story, but you are right, it only works if people know who you are.:D

Edited October 24, 2014 by MicCanberra

[MicCanberra]

Is this a 'suggested' arrival time, or a show up before that that take a seat and wait till the cows come in time to board?:D

 

We got a simuliar email last year, got to the port around 11:00, went thru the ck in and scan, and were sent straight to an open agent, processed, and on the gang plank :eek: we were sent to get a glass of bubbly!

 

IMHO, this is more about trying to space us out a bit and avoid the mass rush of pax all at one time. 80,000+ People attending a function at Jerry world:rolleyes: all try and get in at almost the same time, it dont happen.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

This is happening more and more, most people adhere to the suggested times, some don't. It does cut down on the massive lines and huge delays in the check in areas.:D

[wallie5446]

Thank you for responding. What was your 'suggested' arrival time?

 

This was last year on the Reflection, the first sailing after the crossing, our suggested time was 11:30 for our C2 on deck 9. The main reason they said for the slow down was the Coast Guard inspection after the TA.

[Chunky2219]

My experience has been bartenders don't come to my Silver Suite sea pass card any faster than they do the standard blue sea pass, aqua-blue sea pass or concierge gold sea pass card.

Do you find that small children and animals avoid you as well?

 

.

[cle-guy]

Do you find that small children and animals avoid you as well?

 

No not at all. Bartenders don't avoid me either, they just provide the service the same to all no matter what cabin one is in, I've had the same service levels when I've stayed in an inside cabin as when in the PH.

 

I've had the same service levels when I've had a free drinks package as when I've had to pay as I go for my beverages.

Edited October 25, 2014 by cle-guy

[Rob the Cruiser]

I hope you are right...I just see this class distinction on message boards to be far more polarizing on Celebrity. I read all of the cruise line message boards and Celebrity snobs (CC snobs anyway) are far more abundant on Celebrity. The author in me wants to write a story about how this is all conspiracy by Cunnard or HAL or Princess to make Celebrity look bad. Because honestly, the Celebrity message board makes Celebrity passengers look far more obnoxious than any of the other cruise line boards.

 

DW and I have not encountered the snobbery that you are concerned about. Granted, we have only been on 3 cruises but we are very outgoing people so if there were uppity folks aboard we would have encountered them. :)

[CapeCodCruiser]

DW and I have not encountered the snobbery that you are concerned about. Granted, we have only been on 3 cruises but we are very outgoing people so if there were uppity folks aboard we would have encountered them. :)

 

Perhaps these people were SO uppity they avoided you!:rolleyes::cool::eek:

[Rob the Cruiser]

Perhaps these people were SO uppity they avoided you!:rolleyes::cool::eek:

 

That would be a good thing! :cool: