Celebrity Fatigue

[parallax]

We just cancelled our April 4 cruise on the Reflection. We were just not excited about the upcoming cruise. Our last two cruises were on the Summit and Silhouette respectively. We had wonderful times on both cruises and our cruise of the Adriatic was a trip of the life time for my daughter. She was able to meet her Italian cousins. During that cruise, we booked our cruise for the Reflection.

 

I'm not sure why we are experiencing the malaise but our hearts weren't in it. We have sailed Celebrity numerous times and know the rhythm and patterns of Celebrity, which can be quite comforting. However, I think also having this knowledge also lowers the excitement level. It is like going to one of your favorite restaurants once a week. You know the food and service is going to be good but a change of pace is required. For some reason, the pasta just does not seem as good when you eat it every week.

 

We love Celebrity and it has been our go to cruise line and we will definitely be back. However, we have decided to try the Yacht Club on the MSC Divina. Our excitement levels have risen again. I know that some on the board will question the choice but I find comparisions between cruise line experiences so subjective.

 

Has any loyal Celebrity cruisers experienced the same such fatigue?

[Cruise Junky]

We usually take long breaks inbetween cruises and do a lot of land trips, this is what keeps it fresh for us. I wouldn't want to cruise as much as some other people.

[miched]

The last two days on board the Eclipse in Nov we were looking forward to the end. Driving home we were not depressed or disappointed about leaving and my wife said that she would not be disappointed if we canceled the cruise that we had scheduled in Mar. We waited until 2 days before final payment and transferred that booking to the Mardi Gras cruise in Feb 2017.

 

It is about 6 weeks before that cruise in Mar and I am sitting here in Mi and there is snow outside and it is cold but I am not regretting that I transferred it.

The luster, glamor, or whatever was not there for us. We needed a break. I don't know how people can cruise as much as they do.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[vulcan1971]

We just cancelled our April 4 cruise on the Reflection. We were just not excited about the upcoming cruise. Our last two cruises were on the Summit and Silhouette respectively. We had wonderful times on both cruises and our cruise of the Adriatic was a trip of the life time for my daughter. She was able to meet her Italian cousins. During that cruise, we booked our cruise for the Reflection.

 

I'm not sure why we are experiencing the malaise but our hearts weren't in it. We have sailed Celebrity numerous times and know the rhythm and patterns of Celebrity, which can be quite comforting. However, I think also having this knowledge also lowers the excitement level. It is like going to one of your favorite restaurants once a week. You know the food and service is going to be good but a change of pace is required. For some reason, the pasta just does not seem as good when you eat it every week.

 

We love Celebrity and it has been our go to cruise line and we will definitely be back. However, we have decided to try the Yacht Club on the MSC Divina. Our excitement levels have risen again. I know that some on the board will question the choice but I find comparisions between cruise line experiences so subjective.

 

Has any loyal Celebrity cruisers experienced the same such fatigue?

 

parallax -

 

First... I'm sorry to hear about your cruise fatigue. I didn't think it was possible to have that, but I don't know the number of Celebrity cruises you have taken or the frequency to which you can enjoy them. I am usually on 1 or 2 Celebrity cruises per year and the duration is usually a total of 23-28 days at sea each year. Once in a while I mix it up and book a suite in the Haven of an NCL cruise ship. I tend to find their offerings and level of service to exceed what I receive on Celebrity and the cost is significantly less in many cases.

 

Your option to try out MSC, specifically their Yacht Club sanctuary, sounds very interesting. I believe it is similar to the NCL Haven concept of a "ship within a ship". I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on this experience and hope you let us know when you return so we can read your comments/perspectives and your ship cruise review.

 

Lastly, and probably too late to pass this advice your way as you cancelled your cruise, but you could have pushed your sailing date out... to a different year and/or different ship so that you could have held onto your on-board booking benefit. I recently booked on board, but getting home realized I would be traveling for work so I postponed the March 2015 cruise and re-booked in November 2015 on a different M-Class ship. All is well, and I will look forward to a cruise, but just a bit further away.

 

Enjoy yourself on MSC and report back to let us know how your experiences compare to Celebrity. :)

Edited January 12, 2015 by vulcan1971

[OhioDogLover]

We were feeling kind of the same way about Princess and are now doing more X for the same reason. Also, we think X is just a bit better than Princess, our opinion, not everyone's, and we really like Aqua. Generally, we go back and forth between lines, but our next few are booked on X, and we are going to do a river cruise on Viking. Variety is the spice of life.

 

Ohiodoglover

[drfun48]

Today many of us are either spoiled or have short attention spans or need a variety of new types of stimulation. Isn't that one of the reasons we see sonny divorce . This no no way an indictment of the op. It's just a fact of modern life that we are all looking for something new

 

 

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[Miss JAD]

We just cancelled our April 4 cruise on the Reflection. We were just not excited about the upcoming cruise. Our last two cruises were on the Summit and Silhouette respectively. We had wonderful times on both cruises and our cruise of the Adriatic was a trip of the life time for my daughter. She was able to meet her Italian cousins. During that cruise, we booked our cruise for the Reflection.

 

I'm not sure why we are experiencing the malaise but our hearts weren't in it. We have sailed Celebrity numerous times and know the rhythm and patterns of Celebrity, which can be quite comforting. However, I think also having this knowledge also lowers the excitement level. It is like going to one of your favorite restaurants once a week. You know the food and service is going to be good but a change of pace is required. For some reason, the pasta just does not seem as good when you eat it every week.

 

We love Celebrity and it has been our go to cruise line and we will definitely be back. However, we have decided to try the Yacht Club on the MSC Divina. Our excitement levels have risen again. I know that some on the board will question the choice but I find comparisions between cruise line experiences so subjective.

 

Has any loyal Celebrity cruisers experienced the same such fatigue?

 

We were on MSC Divina last year in yacht club for 1 week then on Reflection for the 2nd week. We were very spoiled in yacht club but it was quiet. Reflection provided a different type of atmosphere. Both were good but we loved Reflection a bit more so booked two weeks this year on her. Enjoy you cruise on MSC. Something different will be nice for you to try. Loved the shows on MSC though!

Edited January 12, 2015 by Miss JAD

[Hlitner]

This thread made me smile :). DW and I have been avid cruisers for more then 30 years and still continue to cruise at least 70 days a year. But many years ago we realized that cruising on the same cruise line again and again had limitations. Must of the entertainment is the same (production shows generally have a 3-5 year life on a cruise line), menus are relatively similar over a period of time, and there is a basic sameness to any specific cruise line. While some folks love the familiarity, DW and I find it a bit monotonous. Unlike some cruisers, we have managed to vary our itineraries (we have cruised to over 150 ports on 6 continents) and length of cruises (7 to over 60 days) but one cannot escape the sameness of specific cruise lines. So in order to avoid the "cruise malaise" mentioned by the OP, we have chosen to cruise with 14 different cruise lines (over 60 different ships) which keeps things fresh and adventurous.

 

When asked by folks which line we like the best, we normally say "all of them." We have found that each line (and particular ships of the line) have their own pros and cons. And now we have more reason to celebrate because we soon have a new cruise line, Viking Cruises, coming to the sea near you! One more new option to explore :).

 

Hank

[cle-guy]

I will admit to some of the same feelings as the OP. That said, I use cruises as a way to "debrief" and as such, kind of enjoy the mundaneness of it all.

 

I no longer see the shows, I tend to socialize in the Martini bar or at dinner, and spend the days relaxing. I figure I can do all this on any ship. For me it boils down to the calming sea. I'd be happy to take a 7 day "cruise to nowhere" with no ports just to watch the sea. This is why I am in love with TA's.

 

Now that I've achieved Elite+ status, I am looking to try out some Royal Caribbean ships, but so far have not booked anything, but starting to explore. I can also see a Disney ship (been a while since I've had my Disney fix, and a ship seems a great way to feed that) and Cunard in my future - I'd love to do a back and forth Cunard NY-UK and back again B2B.

[phoenix_dream]

I have actually experienced the same thing. I love Celebrity, and have sailed the line 25 times to-date. Last spring, we took a cruise on the Silhouette. It was our first time sailing that particular ship. I enjoyed the cruise, the ship was of course beautiful, and everything was up to par. But at the same time, I never felt the 'wow' factor or excitement I usually feel when cruising. I felt a little blah about booking another Celebrity cruise in the near future.

 

So then we decided to try RCI Freedom of the Seas last October (primarily because Celebrity had so few Caribbean cruises to offer then, but secondarily because of a tad bit of Celebrity fatigue). Taking that cruise reminded me of how much I prefer Celebrity. It was a very nice ship, and a very nice cruise, and my 20-something son much preferred it because of more activities on board, but for my husband and me it just could not compare with sailing Celebrity. Got home and booked Summit in late November and the 'wow' was back (helped that we had the newer AQ cabins and Summit has an awesome Blu restaurant).

 

Everyone is different, but for us, we do cruises to relax rather than to have a lot of 'fun' or to explore new places (although when we both retire that will change as we hope to experience longer cruises where we have never been). Celebrity is a great cruise line to take to relax (which is not to say there are not some activities for those who desire them). For more 'excitement' we rely on the land trips we take in-between cruises.

 

These are really nice problems to have, aren't they! I know many people could only dream of having these problems and I am thankful everyday that I can cruise Celebrity enough to experience Celebrity fatigue:)

[parallax]

Today many of us are either spoiled or have short attention spans or need a variety of new types of stimulation. Isn't that one of the reasons we see sonny divorce . This no no way an indictment of the op. It's just a fact of modern life that we are all looking for something new

 

 

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I don't see it that way. It is not about short attention spans or seeking new types of simulation but it is about seeking new adventures or discovering new approaches to cruising. When I use to visit my grandfather, he would always want to take me out to dinner. However, the only place we would go is to Bob's Big Boy. He was comfortable with going to Bob's Big Boy all the time for his fine dining needs; I am not.

[DavidYYC]

I will admit to some of the same feelings as the OP. That said, I use cruises as a way to "debrief" and as such, kind of enjoy the mundaneness of it all.

 

I no longer see the shows, I tend to socialize in the Martini bar or at dinner, and spend the days relaxing. I figure I can do all this on any ship. For me it boils down to the calming sea. I'd be happy to take a 7 day "cruise to nowhere" with no ports just to watch the sea. This is why I am in love with TA's.

 

Now that I've achieved Elite+ status, I am looking to try out some Royal Caribbean ships, but so far have not booked anything, but starting to explore. I can also see a Disney ship (been a while since I've had my Disney fix, and a ship seems a great way to feed that) and Cunard in my future - I'd love to do a back and forth Cunard NY-UK and back again B2B.

 

I totally agree with this. For us cruising is less about the food, the entertainment and socializing than it is about relaxation. When we do land-based vacations they are invariably busy, involve extended family and sight-seeing because we are interested in things.

This is our 5th X cruise coming up. I hope we will do more.

[Queen of Oakville]

I think too much of anything can be a bad thing : )

 

We try to mix it up. One cruise a year (sometimes two) + a land holiday and some road trips.

 

The land holiday (at an all-inclusive resort in the sun) usually makes me year for the next cruise. I prefer cruising to land holidays.

 

DH likes the calm of a land holiday. Of course, this was after a few Disney and DreamWorks cruises.

 

We like the relaxation speed that X gives. But at this stage in our life, I don't think we would want to do more than one or two a year. Perhaps when we are retired and have the luxury of time to do a TA, we might feel differently.

[CathyCruises]

I understand this feeling too. But when we took a Princess cruise to Alaska a few years ago, I was constantly reminded of why I like Celebrity so much. And for us, it's the group of cruise buddies that we have made that make the trip. Since we come from all over the globe, we never see each other except for cruising, which makes it extra special! Our trips wouldn't be half as fun if we weren't meeting up at least once a year on TAs. This past spring, there were 20 of us at the Sunset Bar every night whooping it up--can't beat those times, and there isn't a ship out there that could lure me away.

Edited January 12, 2015 by CathyCruises

[parallax]

parallax -

 

First... I'm sorry to hear about your cruise fatigue. I didn't think it was possible to have that, but I don't know the number of Celebrity cruises you have taken or the frequency to which you can enjoy them. I am usually on 1 or 2 Celebrity cruises per year and the duration is usually a total of 23-28 days at sea each year. Once in a while I mix it up and book a suite in the Haven of an NCL cruise ship. I tend to find their offerings and level of service to exceed what I receive on Celebrity and the cost is significantly less in many cases.

 

Your option to try out MSC, specifically their Yacht Club sanctuary, sounds very interesting. I believe it is similar to the NCL Haven concept of a "ship within a ship". I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on this experience and hope you let us know when you return so we can read your comments/perspectives and your ship cruise review.

 

Lastly, and probably too late to pass this advice your way as you cancelled your cruise, but you could have pushed your sailing date out... to a different year and/or different ship so that you could have held onto your on-board booking benefit. I recently booked on board, but getting home realized I would be traveling for work so I postponed the March 2015 cruise and re-booked in November 2015 on a different M-Class ship. All is well, and I will look forward to a cruise, but just a bit further away.

 

Enjoy yourself on MSC and report back to let us know how your experiences compare to Celebrity. :)

 

 

I have been on 8 cruises with Celebrity over the last few years. We didn't rebook because we had already bought our plane tickets and the trip coincided with my daughter being out on Easter break.

 

We were intrigued by the Yacht Club. We had friends who went on the Divina over Christmas break and they had a wonderful time staying at the Yacht Club. They introduced us to Celebrity 13 years and love Celebrity but they found it refreshing because it was different than cruising on an American based cruise line and there was more passenger diversity.

[CathyCruises]

I have been on 8 cruises with Celebrity over the last few years. We didn't rebook because we had already bought our plane tickets and the trip coincided with my daughter being out on Easter break.

 

We were intrigued by the Yacht Club. We had friends who went on the Divina over Christmas break and they had a wonderful time staying at the Yacht Club. They introduced us to Celebrity 13 years and love Celebrity but they found it refreshing because it was different than cruising on an American based cruise line and there was more passenger diversity.

 

I think it's great tha you found another option. Seriously, please do report back and let us know what you thought. I'd love to hear the pros and cons.

[wwcruisers]

This thread made me smile :). DW and I have been avid cruisers for more then 30 years and still continue to cruise at least 70 days a year. But many years ago we realized that cruising on the same cruise line again and again had limitations. Must of the entertainment is the same (production shows generally have a 3-5 year life on a cruise line), menus are relatively similar over a period of time, and there is a basic sameness to any specific cruise line. While some folks love the familiarity, DW and I find it a bit monotonous. Unlike some cruisers, we have managed to vary our itineraries (we have cruised to over 150 ports on 6 continents) and length of cruises (7 to over 60 days) but one cannot escape the sameness of specific cruise lines. So in order to avoid the "cruise malaise" mentioned by the OP, we have chosen to cruise with 14 different cruise lines (over 60 different ships) which keeps things fresh and adventurous.

 

When asked by folks which line we like the best, we normally say "all of them." We have found that each line (and particular ships of the line) have their own pros and cons. And now we have more reason to celebrate because we soon have a new cruise line, Viking Cruises, coming to the sea near you! One more new option to explore :).

 

Hank

 

Love your post Hank. And, don't forget that Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines) is supposed to be launching a new, innovative cruise ship -- not sure exactly when, though. :cool:

[cadburysmom]

Variety is the spice of life! :D

 

My favorite ships were the grand class on Princess until Celebrity introduced it's solstice class. I didn't think much of Celebrity until my first Baltic cruise on Eclipse in 2010 when she was brand, spanking new and it totally won me over. Then friends talked me into a Seabourn cruise which was even more wonderful yet so different from Princess and Celebrity that I think of it as a different kind of vacation altogether. And after five years away from Princess, I recently traveled on Regal Princess, the newest class ship, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

 

Now I'm in a quandry. I love transatlantics, the relaxing days at sea and arriving in Europe with no jet lag. For the past two years, I've enjoyed the spring transatlantics on Equinox and then Eclipse. To me, the solstice class are perfect as they have more room to roam, so to speak, but several friends have invited me to join them on a Seabourn transatlantic. I love Seabourn ships but think maybe a bit too small for a two week trip. And as Celebrity's prices are almost the same as the new Princess ships, which offer a few different ports, cabin tv offering around 25 free movies and lovely new dining venues, I'm having a VERY hard time deciding.

 

Ah, but what a wonderful problem to have. ;)

 

But enough about me and back to the OP...I totally understand how you feel and think it's perfectly natural. Enjoy your cruise on MSC and be sure to write a review as I would be interested in trying one myself. :D

Edited January 12, 2015 by cadburysmom

[maggie.1008]

We are all so spoiled. I have been on 10 different cruise lines and for the price X is the best fit for us. My problem is I have grown tired of long plane rides. DH and I were both in the airlines business for many years. In the last 3 months I cruised on Princess and go again in 2 weeks. I don`t think Princess is near as good as X but we can drive to the port. Really missed my Elite Plus benefits ! We also now book cruises around 10 days so the entire trip can be done in 2 weeks. After that we both hit the wall. By then it`s time to diet and sober up !

[cle-guy]

Love your post Hank. And, don't forget that Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Airlines) is supposed to be launching a new, innovative cruise ship -- not sure exactly when, though. :cool:

 

Instead of Quantum's "North Star" attraction, Branson will launch you into space from the top deck for a half hour excursion.

[wwcruisers]

Instead of Quantum's "North Star" attraction, Branson will launch you into space from the top deck for a half hour excursion.

 

ROTFLMAO, Curt!! :D Now, where DID I put that bottle of screen cleaner? :p

[cadburysmom]

instead of quantum's "north star" attraction, branson will launch you into space from the top deck for a half hour excursion.

:) ;) :) Edited January 12, 2015 by cadburysmom

[Kevnzworld]

I " met " Celebrity in January 2012 after sailing exclusively on Regent.

I loved Celebrity's new Solstice ships, Aqua class and the great value. $2-300$ per night per cabin, I was traveling solo paying the single supplement.

I've since sailed enough to be Elite plus.

I began to get bored with the fourteen day menus last year, and the same repetitive lunch buffet items. The specialty restaurant menus never change. So after three consecutive years on Celebrity, I ( now we ) are taking a one year break.

Sailing on Seabourn last year, one day after exiting the Reflection was an eye opener for us given that we now only book a suite on Celebrity ( price is similar ). The food on Seabourn was fabulous, the menus were fresh, the service was personalized and the itineraries are way better .

I'm hoping Celebrity has a menu/ restaurant makeover in our absence . It's time.

We have four future Celebrity sailings held/ booked for 2016-7 hoping that the new Suite restaurant is a success, and Celebrity gets a long deserved food/ restaurant makeover .

[vulcan1971]

I have been on 8 cruises with Celebrity over the last few years. We didn't rebook because we had already bought our plane tickets and the trip coincided with my daughter being out on Easter break.

 

We were intrigued by the Yacht Club. We had friends who went on the Divina over Christmas break and they had a wonderful time staying at the Yacht Club. They introduced us to Celebrity 13 years and love Celebrity but they found it refreshing because it was different than cruising on an American based cruise line and there was more passenger diversity.

 

As you can see, a devoted crowd is forming to hear about your cruise experience. And as you become aware of the "what to expect" for going on a new cruise line, I saw this tid bit I would pass your way regarding the smoking policy which I copied/pasted from the MSC website.

 

 

 

Smoking is permitted in several bars on each ship, and on one side (indicated by signage) of the principal outdoor pool deck areas, where ashtrays are provided.

 

 

P.S. Just for fun, I went to the MSC website this morning to check on a few itineraries I would be interested in trying. I attempted to do a "dummy booking" just to see what price and availability were for those itineraries. Anyway, and a long story short, the MSC website is having problems and kicked me out all together. I have attempted 3 different times today and no luck so far. I guess Celebrity has company in the "crappy website" department. :rolleyes:

Edited January 12, 2015 by vulcan1971

[Turtles06]

For me it boils down to the calming sea. I'd be happy to take a 7 day "cruise to nowhere" with no ports just to watch the sea. This is why I am in love with TA's.

 

Now that I've achieved Elite+ status, I am looking to try out some Royal Caribbean ships ..

 

I feel the same way and have expressed it the same way to others --- I'd be happy to be on a ship that just made great circles in the ocean for a week and then returned to port. :)

 

Speaking of RCI, we are doing the next best thing to a week long "cruise to nowhere" next fall -- the (not yet launched) Anthem of the Seas' TA from Southampton to Cape Liberty: 8 nights, NO ports. It's not the kind of ship we'd normally sail (too big, more like an amusement park), but we are actually very excited about trying something so new and different (after three wonderful TAs on Celebrity), particularly when the ship is not likely to be overrun with kids.