? About Luminae Construction on Equinox

[ghstudio]

Space available basis? If you fill the restaurant at 7:30, and people are waiting with their non AQ guests to get in, regular AQ guests will have to wait longer.

As it is, the wait to get into Blu at prime time can be 10-15 minutes.

Bottom line, it would be a terrible decision.

I also think that if you allow suite guests to invite groups of non suite guests into Luminae , it to will fill up by 7:00 and other suite guests arriving at 7:30-8:00 will have an inordinate wait because of it...

I foresee another Celebrity train wreck.

 

 

Agree but it's a revenue opportunity that they won't be able to resist....want to take the bet :)

[wallie5446]

Ok ya'll,

13 pages and over 250 comments. And ya know what? Ain't no one gonna go hungry on a Celebrity cruise. The sky is not falling, tho it may have a cloud or three, ya'll are gonna get to bellie up somewhere:D and shuffle something organic over the teeth and gums!

 

This is so :rolleyes:

Edited February 9, 2015 by wallie5446

[need2bespoiled]

They have done this, Suite guests can only eat in the MDR by arrangement, I.E. if there is space available, which there often is.

 

/QUOTE]

 

It's a nice thought, but there's little chance that they are going to refuse a suite passenger anything these days....and they aren't going to let the common folk or even aqua passengers dine in Luminae.

 

I saw the exact other argument on a different thread, with suite guest complaining and worrying they wouldn't be able to eat in the MDR.

 

As a side note, to those worried about select dining being more crowded because of moving fixed dinner seats to select, don't forget, some suite guests had select, and won't anymore (often anyway).

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Gracie115]

Ok ya'll,

13 pages and over 250 comments. And ya know what? Ain't no one gonna go hungry on a Celebrity cruise. The sky is not falling, tho it may have a cloud or three, ya'll are gonna get to bellie up somewhere:D and shuffle something organic over the teeth and gums!

 

This is so :rolleyes:

 

Precisely......not going to let it worry me or ruin the fun of anticipating my next wonderful adventure on the Eclipse....somehow we will all find a way...:D

[cle-guy]

Straight from the horse's mouth regarding the effect on Reflection, the most crowded ship X has:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=45556066&postcount=49

 

With regard to getting specialty dining reservations:

We like 6 to 6:30 dining. No problem. The other Zeniths like 8:30, no problem.

 

Regarding the effect on regular diners:

The stress in the dining room is much less than expected.

 

Sounds like the sky isn't really falling.

[bighairtexan]

Straight from the horse's mouth regarding the effect on Reflection, the most crowded ship X has:

 

 

 

Sounds like the sky isn't really falling.

 

haha CURT GMTA and all that. I hadn't read this post of yours, but just said EXACTLY the same thing on the other thread. A lot of "getting worked up over nothing."

[blueboro]

haha CURT GMTA and all that. I hadn't read this post of yours, but just said EXACTLY the same thing on the other thread. A lot of "getting worked up over nothing."

 

Hope that is correct...however most of us are not Zenith's.

[wallie5446]

Hope that is correct...however most of us are not Zenith's.

Most Zenith level CC members dont sail in Suites. The Zenith couple we sailed with last Nov did their B2B in a deck 6 veranda, and did early seating.

[villauk]

Most Zenith level CC members dont sail in Suites. The Zenith couple we sailed with last Nov did their B2B in a deck 6 veranda, and did early seating.

 

Arno has already stated on the other thread that he is taking all of his dinners in the specialty restaurants being Zenith, he's not eating in the MDR ;)

[wallie5446]

Arno has already stated on the other thread that he is taking all of his dinners in the specialty restaurants being Zenith, he's not eating in the MDR ;)

 

We did not sail with Arno.

 

I commented on a post by blueboro, in responces to Sharron, whom quoted Curt.

[Seanster]

Who does construction on a cruise ship while the cruise ship is operating? Why can't fitting out a restaurant wait until the next time the ship is in dry dock, when they can do several projects at once? This is not an emergency; it clearly is an enhancement to improve Celebrity's bottom line.

 

I certainly hope that it does not diminish the cruise experience, and that the construction debris is fully encapsulated in that portion of the dining room.

 

This is not equitable to what reputable hotels do -- many reputable hotels offer a lower rate while they are redecorating due to diminishment of the experience for their guests. And many disclose the fact to their potential customers ahead of time, and when they don't, they are frequently the subject of poor reviews by guests, and rightfully so.

 

Seems like money-grubbing on the part of Celebrity. I'm sure some Celebrity "shareholders" can get behind it, but the bulk of their patrons are not shareholders, and this has the potential to diminish the value of their investment in the cruise. (Obviously construction DOES have an impact, given that Celebrity felt obliged to inform passengers by letter, AFTER they had boarded.)

 

But we will see.

Edited February 10, 2015 by Seanster

[wallie5446]

Who does construction on a cruise ship while the cruise ship is operating? Why can't fitting out a restaurant wait until the next time the ship is in dry dock, when they can do several projects at once? This is not an emergency; it clearly is an enhancement to improve Celebrity's bottom line.

 

I certainly hope that it does not diminish the cruise experience, and that the construction debris is fully encapsulated in that portion of the dining room.

 

This is not equitable to what reputable hotels do -- many reputable hotels offer a lower rate while they are redecorating due to diminishment of the experience for their guests. And many disclose the fact to their potential customers ahead of time, and when they don't, they are frequently the subject of poor reviews by guests, and rightfully so.

 

Seems like money-grubbing on the part of Celebrity. I'm sure some Celebrity "shareholders" can get behind it, but the bulk of their patrons are not shareholders, and this has the potential to diminish the value of their investment in the cruise. (Obviously construction DOES have an impact, given that Celebrity felt obliged to inform passengers by letter, AFTER they had boarded.)

 

But we will see.

When is your sailing?

[cle-guy]

Who does construction on a cruise ship while the cruise ship is operating? Why can't fitting out a restaurant wait until the next time the ship is in dry dock, when they can do several projects at once? This is not an emergency; it clearly is an enhancement to improve Celebrity's bottom line.

 

I certainly hope that it does not diminish the cruise experience, and that the construction debris is fully encapsulated in that portion of the dining room.

 

This is not equitable to what reputable hotels do -- many reputable hotels offer a lower rate while they are redecorating due to diminishment of the experience for their guests. And many disclose the fact to their potential customers ahead of time, and when they don't, they are frequently the subject of poor reviews by guests, and rightfully so.

 

Seems like money-grubbing on the part of Celebrity. I'm sure some Celebrity "shareholders" can get behind it, but the bulk of their patrons are not shareholders, and this has the potential to diminish the value of their investment in the cruise. (Obviously construction DOES have an impact, given that Celebrity felt obliged to inform passengers by letter, AFTER they had boarded.)

 

But we will see.

 

 

So far the live reviews during construction from well-regarded Cruise Critic Posters on the ship, indicate the intrusion is nearly non existent - refer to the other thread running. The letter issued by Ceebrity stated that Fixed seating diners, and BLU diners would be unaffected, and Select diners would have Select dining times extended earlier and later. Not really much of a disruption. Suite passengers have been given option of unlimited specialty dining to remove them from the MDR patrons, pulling more bodies out of those dining there.

 

As to having to look at the construction debris (they have put up walls to hide it), that's no more distracting than non-formal wearing guests on formal night in the MDR.

 

Taking a ship out of service costs just over half a million dollars per day in lost revenues, (I provided an itemized analysis in another thread, using figures from the most recent Annual SEC 10K filing as my data) any savings by not having passengers are minimal, as the cost of food to feed the passengers and crew on a daily basis is only $37,000 or so, and a portion of that is still being spent on the crew, and the crew work even during any dry dock - and I wonder if crew get an enhanced standard wage in such periods with no gratuities being accumulated.

 

Yes it's a money thing, just like operating any business is a money thing. I don't think anyone is denying that at all. The "bulk of their patrons" are not going to experience any issue relative to this (and I doubt even you will unless you have a sailing in the 1-3 week period on any of these ships between now and April 10 or so), while there will be many of their consumers post installation having a far more enjoyable cruising experience when they get to use the SDR, and BLU passengers will have a better experience with all those pesky Suite guests spending more time in SDR than BLU, and MDR guests will have more attention paid to them without all those pesky suite guests occupying their server's time. And those who claim they can never get into specialty restaurants will now a have better chance, as suite guests use their ding room more often. Win Win Win Win Win it seems, with very minimal disruption to a nearly immeasurable fraction of their patrons - which would be only those who actually sail on an affected sailing AND who honestly think their experience was spoiled due to it.

 

Let's do the math (OK, I guess it IS in fact measurable...):

 

• S class ships hold on average 2800 passengers x 5 ships = 14,000 PAX
  
• M class hold average of 2138 passengers x 4 ships = 8552 PAX
  
• Let's assume average 7 days cruise overall some more, some less but let's just average 7 days, we will multiply (14,000 + 8552) * 52 weeks = 1,172,704 passengers carried in a year
  
• The refurb lets say takes 2 weeks, 2 sailings, that's 14,000 + 8552 = 22,552 passengers per week, or 45,104 potentially disrupted passengers.
  
• If all those were disrupted that's 45,104/1172704 = 3.83% of overall passengers possibly impacted in a year's sailings
  
• Likely about 1/10th have strong feelings of an impact, so that leaves 0.384% of passengers experiencing an issue. Fraction of a percent.
  

 

Actually I could have taken Eclipse out of the calculation, as by chance she will have a drydock immediately before Suite dining opens, so I'd assume (but can not confirm ) this would be done then, but I'll leave her in to make it simple.

 

I've seen them replace carpet in the Sky lounge at sail, Century had cabin refurbishments done under sail, even in occupied cabins last year. Refurbishments happen all the time. My recent summit sailing, one side of the lifeboat deck was closed for 2 days for refurbishments. Even in my Penthouse suite, my veranda was closed for a day as they rechocked the lines between the decking and paint (they did leave me a card saying I could tell them no, but it didn't bother me so I let those refurbs go on as planned).

 

To add the Suite program, it's essential it be fleet wide in a specified period of time, not done over time as ships go thru drydock, some of which are not scheduled for 3-4 or more years from now. That's just not in any stretch of the imagination practical to suggest such in important part of the program be phased in over 3-4 years time.

 

I worked for Marriott for years, and went through several hotel refurbishments at multiple properties, mostly soft goods but one full soft and hard goods. Our average daily rate (actually I should say REVPAR due to the OOO rooms) remained unchanged, and our occupancy remained steady but for the particular rooms out of order. We did not have to discount or offer any incentives. The service we provided should be enough, as it should on Celebrity ships. We did try to schedule such activities are slow periods, but it's impossible to do that always. And by the way, this is the slowest period with most people getting extreme discounted fares for X ships for the year, if you read the Shareholder analysis and Annual SEC 10K filing.

Edited February 10, 2015 by cle-guy

[wallie5446]

Our Nov 2013 cruise on the Reflection was our best in 25 years, you are in for a real treat.

 

The new venue for those in the suites is not something new, as it has been in the works for well over a year and every TA knew it was coming.

 

There is no additional cost to dine there so it can not be a money grubbing addition.

 

My wife works for Hyatt and they have done 4 major refurbs of the Hotel she works at over the last 3 years while still holding to rack rate on the rooms, and keeping a 90+% avg fill rate. In the real world business can not shut down, income must be maintained.

 

Anyway, the Reflection is a wonderful ship and I have the utmost confidence that the staff will put forth their best effort to make your cruise a wonderful one too.

Edited February 10, 2015 by wallie5446

[Seanster]

So far the live reviews during construction from well-regarded Cruise Critic Posters on the ship, indicate the intrusion is nearly non existent - refer to the other thread running. The letter issued by Ceebrity stated that Fixed seating diners, and BLU diners would be unaffected, and Select diners would have Select dining times extended earlier and later. Not really much of a disruption. Suite passengers have been given option of unlimited specialty dining to remove them from the MDR patrons, pulling more bodies out of those dining there.

 

As to having to look at the construction debris (they have put up walls to hide it), that's no more distracting than non-formal wearing guests on formal night in the MDR.

 

Taking a ship out of service costs just over half a million dollars per day in lost revenues, (I provided an itemized analysis in another thread, using figures from the most recent Annual SEC 10K filing as my data) any savings by not having passengers are minimal, as the cost of food to feed the passengers and crew on a daily basis is only $37,000 or so, and a portion of that is still being spent on the crew, and the crew work even during any dry dock - and I wonder if crew get an enhanced standard wage in such periods with no gratuities being accumulated.

 

Yes it's a money thing, just like operating any business is a money thing. I don't think anyone is denying that at all. The "bulk of their patrons" are not going to experience any issue relative to this (and I doubt even you will unless you have a sailing in the 1-3 week period on any of these ships between now and April 10 or so), while there will be many of their consumers post installation having a far more enjoyable cruising experience when they get to use the SDR, and BLU passengers will have a better experience with all those pesky Suite guests spending more time in SDR than BLU, and MDR guests will have more attention paid to them without all those pesky suite guests occupying their server's time. And those who claim they can never get into specialty restaurants will now a have better chance, as suite guests use their ding room more often. Win Win Win Win Win it seems, with very minimal disruption to a nearly immeasurable fraction of their patrons - which would be only those who actually sail on an affected sailing AND who honestly think their experience was spoiled due to it.

 

Let's do the math (OK, I guess it IS in fact measurable...):

 

• S class ships hold on average 2800 passengers x 5 ships = 14,000 PAX
  
• M class hold average of 2138 passengers x 4 ships = 8552 PAX
  
• Let's assume average 7 days cruise overall some more, some less but let's just average 7 days, we will multiply (14,000 + 8552) * 52 weeks = 1,172,704 passengers carried in a year
  
• The refurb lets say takes 2 weeks, 2 sailings, that's 14,000 + 8552 = 22,552 passengers per week, or 45,104 potentially disrupted passengers.
  
• If all those were disrupted that's 45,104/1172704 = 3.83% of overall passengers possibly impacted in a year's sailings
  
• Likely about 1/10th have strong feelings of an impact, so that leaves 0.384% of passengers experiencing an issue. Fraction of a percent.
  

 

Actually I could have taken Eclipse out of the calculation, as by chance she will have a drydock immediately before Suite dining opens, so I'd assume (but can not confirm ) this would be done then, but I'll leave her in to make it simple.

 

I've seen them replace carpet in the Sky lounge at sail, Century had cabin refurbishments done under sail, even in occupied cabins last year. Refurbishments happen all the time. My recent summit sailing, one side of the lifeboat deck was closed for 2 days for refurbishments. Even in my Penthouse suite, my veranda was closed for a day as they rechocked the lines between the decking and paint (they did leave me a card saying I could tell them no, but it didn't bother me so I let those refurbs go on as planned).

 

To add the Suite program, it's essential it be fleet wide in a specified period of time, not done over time as ships go thru drydock, some of which are not scheduled for 3-4 or more years from now. That's just not in any stretch of the imagination practical to suggest such in important part of the program be phased in over 3-4 years time.

 

I worked for Marriott for years, and went through several hotel refurbishments at multiple properties, mostly soft goods but one full soft and hard goods. Our average daily rate (actually I should say REVPAR due to the OOO rooms) remained unchanged, and our occupancy remained steady but for the particular rooms out of order. We did not have to discount or offer any incentives. The service we provided should be enough, as it should on Celebrity ships. We did try to schedule such activities are slow periods, but it's impossible to do that always. And by the way, this is the slowest period with most people getting extreme discounted fares for X ships for the year, if you read the Shareholder analysis and Annual SEC 10K filing.

 

 

 

With all due respect, I don't find your arguments terribly persuasive. You state that this is the slowest season of the year, when all of the Reflection cruises in February are sold out or nearly sold out. We're talking the Caribbean in February -- hardly a slow season! If Celebrity is trying to pass this off as their slow season, I'd hate to see their busy season, or to sail at that time for that matter.

 

In terms of construction of restaurant facilities, I can't speak to what Marriott's policies were while you were there, but travel review sites are replete with complaints about hotels/resorts doing renovations that are in plain sight. Obviously, most hotels/resorts are not going to shut down the entire facility to make renovations, but they will frequently shut down a portion of the facility. Cruise lines, on the other hand, typically wait until dry dock to make renovations of this sort.

 

People can come up with whatever excuse they want to justify this policy. I, for one, certainly hope this is not part of a new trend on cruise lines of renovating while sailing. I have avoided cruising for the most for many years, because many of these lines have become cattle cars, but my wife has a class onboard so we're rolling the dice.

Edited February 10, 2015 by Seanster

[mdmourges]

Sean, clearly Celebrity has done the math and is willing to risk people being so upset they change lines vs. holding off on this and letting other premium cruise lines steal their highest paying clients. Not trying to justify their actions but I understand it. If they wait until the next upgrade to the ship, they will not have a consistent start date for the Suite Class program. That would be confusing to clients. When you are on board, you should voice your displeasure to the highest ranking person you can find. Celebrity needs constructive feedback on issue like this. I hope you have a good time on your cruise.

 

Mark

[Karynanne]

Sean, clearly Celebrity has done the math and is willing to risk people being so upset they change lines vs. holding off on this and letting other premium cruise lines steal their highest paying clients. Not trying to justify their actions but I understand it. If they wait until the next upgrade to the ship, they will not have a consistent start date for the Suite Class program. That would be confusing to clients. When you are on board, you should voice your displeasure to the highest ranking person you can find. Celebrity needs constructive feedback on issue like this. I hope you have a good time on your cruise.

 

 

 

Mark

 

 

I have a suggestion for the passenger...wait until boarding the ship, and see if there are any disruptions to their cruising experience. Preconceived attitudes and actions can only create undue anxiety. JMHO...

[cle-guy]

With all due respect, I don't find your arguments terribly persuasive. You state that this is the slowest season of the year, when all of the Reflection cruises in February are sold out or nearly sold out. We're talking the Caribbean in February -- hardly a slow season! If Celebrity is trying to pass this off as their slow season, I'd hate to see their busy season, or to sail at that time for that matter.

 

In terms of construction of restaurant facilities, I can't speak to what Marriott's policies were while you were there, but travel review sites are replete with complaints about hotels/resorts doing renovations that are in plain sight. Obviously, most hotels/resorts are not going to shut down the entire facility to make renovations, but they will frequently shut down a portion of the facility. Cruise lines, on the other hand, typically wait until dry dock to make renovations of this sort.

 

People can come up with whatever excuse they want to justify this policy. I, for one, certainly hope this is not part of a new trend on cruise lines of renovating while sailing. I have avoided cruising for the most for many years, because many of these lines have become cattle cars, but my wife has a class onboard so we're rolling the dice.

 

Ships are full or close to it, yes they are, but fares are down low - it's a slow season so far as revenue generation goes.

 

Also looking to actual Reflection bookings for the current season:

• 2/28 Western Caribbean Reflection sailing has 16% open cabins at the moment.
  
• 3/1 Eastern Caribbean Reflection sailing has 8% open cabins at the moment.
  
• 3/14 Western Caribbean Reflection sailing has 58% open cabins at the moment.
  
• 3/21 Eastern Caribbean Reflection sailing has 54% open cabins at the moment.
  
• 3/28 Western Caribbean Reflection sailing has 60% open cabins at the moment.
  
• 4/4 Eastern Caribbean Reflection sailing has 56% open cabins at the moment.
  

So many cabins with only 2-3 months (weeks…) until sailing - shows people are getting deeply discounted fares as they aren't booking well in advance and are waiting for discounts near the end times. I'm guilty of using this methodology this myself.

 

said Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Rich Fain,"I think we are all frustrated by the stubbornness of the pressure on the Caribbean -- it was at the higher end of the range (pricing pressure) -- and that was disappointing."

 

In the case of Royal Caribbean's fourth-quarter performance and first-quarter guidance, the company's Caribbean market experienced greater promotional activity, in order to lure vacation goers with numerous choices at their disposal amid excess industry capacity in the region, especially for seven-day cruises.

 

You suggested cruises should be discounted at times they do renovations, well they are, as evidenced by SEC stock filings, and comments made by the CEO of the company. This is why RCL and Celebrity are moving ships out of Caribbean the next few years. Constellation is leaving to Asia and Middle East, Century is leaving the fleet and not coming back. Anthem of the Seas will Repo to Asia after a small innaugural season in the US. Lots of speculation where the new ships coming in 2018 are going, though Caribbean is doubtful based on the patterns there.

 

You can choose to buy or not my arguments, though they are based in fact rather than rhetoric and assumption. My sources are cited in my replies.

 

And as another poster has replied, not only Marriott does renovations without discounting, so does Hilton. So Celebrity is in good company. Celebrity has shut down a portion of the MDR to do the construction, much like you suggest in your reply ("Obviously, most hotels/resorts are not going to shut down the entire facility to make renovations, but they will frequently shut down a portion of the facility."), though your initial premise was that Celebrity shut the ship down entirely. And of course websites are full of complainers, no one's going to say "wow they were renovating, and it was amazing". Question is will those types of things cause the business to cease operations. My thought is no it won't. Perhaps a few guests won't return, but they will be readily replaced by someone. And likely many of those ail CLAIM to never come back but eventually will. If a customer leaves over something like a property making renovations and bettering itself, they aren't a customer worth keeping. Contrary to popular belief, the customer is NOT always right.

 

I find it difficult to make a generalizations such as "Cruise lines, on the other hand, typically wait until dry dock to make renovations of this sort" as there are so few cruise ships in Celebrity's fleet, 10, versus the 4,087 hotels Marriott operates, or more than 4,200 Hilton operates. Celebrity has to make adjustments on a daily basis as to how it operates, maintains, and renovates its ships. It can't be an always "go to dry dock to make changes" there has to be a cost-benefit analysis. They've clearly determined it's not worth the loss of $550,000 per day for several days versus the anticipated revenue gains on sales of Suites after the SDR is installed. hey don't care to wait 3-4 years to make this roll out as ships dry dock naturally. They have determined the loss of goodwill of a few displaced passengers won't amount to as much as those gains either.

 

And yet again, based on feedback from actual people on actual ships getting the SDR installed, it's not anything like people were expecting here, it's going relatively smoothly.

Edited February 10, 2015 by cle-guy

[Texed]

I have a suggestion for the passenger...wait until boarding the ship, and see if there are any disruptions to their cruising experience. Preconceived attitudes and actions can only create undue anxiety. JMHO...

 

Great post. :)

[Algebralovr]

With all due respect, I don't find your arguments terribly persuasive. You state that this is the slowest season of the year, when all of the Reflection cruises in February are sold out or nearly sold out. We're talking the Caribbean in February -- hardly a slow season! If Celebrity is trying to pass this off as their slow season, I'd hate to see their busy season, or to sail at that time for that matter.

 

In terms of construction of restaurant facilities, I can't speak to what Marriott's policies were while you were there, but travel review sites are replete with complaints about hotels/resorts doing renovations that are in plain sight. Obviously, most hotels/resorts are not going to shut down the entire facility to make renovations, but they will frequently shut down a portion of the facility. Cruise lines, on the other hand, typically wait until dry dock to make renovations of this sort.

 

People can come up with whatever excuse they want to justify this policy. I, for one, certainly hope this is not part of a new trend on cruise lines of renovating while sailing. I have avoided cruising for the most for many years, because many of these lines have become cattle cars, but my wife has a class onboard so we're rolling the dice.

 

While this isn't exactly a slow season in the Caribbean, we really haven't paid any more than previous years, and we got more for our money. Celebrity certainly wouldn't do construction during the holiday weeks, and while I wish they had it done the first couple of weeks after the holidays, they didn't. Prices are higher in the summer in Europe most years than we paid for our cruise and we booked when it first was announced.

 

I am surprised that Silhouette didn't get her SDR built while her propulsion issue was repaired, but she didn't. This really isn't a huge renovation. It isn't small, but from what Arno posted, they blocked off the area right away to make sure that dinner in the MDR was not affected even the first night.

 

Sail with a positive attitude and all will be well! It isn't as though we spend much time in the MDR, just a couple of meals a day at most. Meanwhile, there are a lot of hours that they can do construction when we are not eating.

[Seanster]

CLE-Guy:

 

Sorry. I'm not buying these "facts." The claim that somehow Celebrity will experience a meaningful downturn in its revenue because it's not able to renovate a restaurant while at sea is specious at best. How have they survived for the past several decades without doing so? Let's face it, if Celebrity did not collapse during 9/11 or at the time of the 2008 downturn, refraining from carrying renovations while at sea isn't going to affect them meaningfully. And the reality is that they're sailing at or near capacity in February.

 

In terms of Celebrity's revenue, it's really not the average customer's concern. I've worked in senior executive capacities for Fortune 100 businesses for nearly two decades, and I would never insult a customer by telling them that they should accept shoddy service or a renovation project because my company needs to make or better its revenue targets. Certainly some executives may think that way, but that doesn't mean a hill of beans to an unhappy customer.

 

In terms of the renovations not being disruptive to customers, I simply don't want to see renovations in a dining room when I'm on vacation. If there wasn't the possibility of inconvenience, then Celebrity would not have provided a letter to boarding passengers warning of the same. Certainly I hope the reality will prove better than the forewarning in Celebrity's own letter. There is always room for optimism, of course.

 

I would quibble with many of your "facts," but unfortunately I need to move on to other priorities. I have a cruise to take in a few days, after all.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Seanster

[Seanster]

I have a suggestion for the passenger...wait until boarding the ship, and see if there are any disruptions to their cruising experience. Preconceived attitudes and actions can only create undue anxiety. JMHO...

 

It was not my preconception. Celebrity itself sounded the warning in its letter to passengers. Perhaps the renovations will turn out to be nothing, but when even the cruise line is hedging its bets, I believe that they should have erred on the side of doing the work in dry dock.

 

If I were still a more avid cruiser, I would be more concerned that this becomes the start of a trend. (Regrettably, cruise lines have found other ways to turn me into more of a landlubber, so I'm not going to lose any sleep over a the prospect of an at-sea renovation trend.)

 

However, clearly the optics are bad. When I plan a land trip, I do my research make sure that I'm not visiting a resort under renovation. And many resorts ARE very good about disclosing the same well ahead of time.

 

Now I have to anticipate if I cruise that the ship could be undergoing renovations in public areas, without meaningful warning. Yet another reason not to cruise, albeit perhaps not the most significant one.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Seanster

[cle-guy]

It was not my preconception. Celebrity itself sounded the warning in its letter to passengers. Perhaps the renovations will turn out to be nothing, but when even the cruise line is hedging its bets, I believe that they should have erred on the side of doing the work in dry dock.

.

 

the "warning sounded" was a letter stating

1. there is work being done
   
2. BLU and fixed diners wil have no impact
   
3. Fixed dinier have extended dining times
   

 

Not really much of a "warning" as a statement of what is happening while on board.

[cle-guy]

Sorry. I'm not buying these "facts." The claim that somehow Celebrity will experience a meaningful downturn in its revenue because it's not able to renovate a restaurant while at sea is specious at best. How have they survived for the past several decades without doing so? Let's face it, if Celebrity did not collapse during 9/11 or at the time of the 2008 downturn, refraining from carrying renovations while at sea isn't going to affect them meaningfully. And the reality is that they're sailing at or near capacity in February.

 

Specious at best, I have provided verifiable facts as to what the lost revenues are, from an audited document filed with the US Securites and Exchange Commission. You have provided nothing but opinion and rhetoric. It's a fact that a day without passengers is a loss of over $550,000 in revenues. If you have different facts versus opinion, please feel free to share, and cite a source.

 

You are right, they are at capacity, but sailing at far less than standard cruise fares, at a highly discounted overall fare structure, as evidenced by SEC filings (which you as a former "fortune 100" employee should be adept at interpreting) and quotes form the company CEO, and as evidenced by other curusie industry news articles and publications. SO overall effect is a full ship but at less than normal revenue. SO that means most fares are highly discounted, not sailing at standard fare. Again, if you can provide sources and facts to offset this please do and cite a source, or please refrain from opinion and rhetoric as an ill-informed argument to verifiable facts.

 

How have they survived, it's been a lot of tough years, and recently good times, that's how. How has ANY business survived post 9-11, by making tough business decisions like not losing half a million in revenues to make a finite number of customer 100% pleased, that's how. By honing in on their most profitable customers and enhancing their experience in a way that allows them to also raise revenues form them, i.e. by adding Suite Dining Rooms, and other such perks. It started with Aqua Class and BLU providing additional revenue for normal veranda cabins, same business model seems now to be rolling out to Suites.

 

In terms of Celebrity's revenue, it's really not the average customer's concern. I've worked in senior executive capacities for Fortune 100 businesses for nearly two decades, and I would never insult a customer by telling them that they should accept shoddy service or a renovation project because my company needs to make or better its revenue targets. Certainly some executives may think that way, but that doesn't mean a hill of beans to an unhappy customer.

1 unhappy customer for every 99 happy customers, is a loss any company would take. Again, many "fortune 100 " companies operate similarly, as evidenced by the Marriott and Hilton hotel's arguments presented by me and another poster. Crap happens, companies deal, some customer's leave, new ones come. SO long as majority of customers return, it's a good day's work. Those that leave, aren't valuable but rather fickle customers anyway, so long as there are replacements coming (as there are) to replace those lost consumers.

 

In terms of the renovations not being disruptive to customers, I simply don't want to see renovations in a dining room when I'm on vacation. If there wasn't the possibility of inconvenience, then Celebrity would not have provided a letter to boarding passengers warning of the same. Certainly I hope the reality will prove better than the forewarning in Celebrity's own letter. There is always room for optimism, of course.

Forewarning? They simply stated what was happening, much like when Sillie had propulsion issues rather than cancel 6 moths of cruises until they could find emergency drydock space, they just provided letters each cruise identifying changes to the norm. Makes more sense than $550,000 per day lost revenue for 150 days = $82,500,000 in lost revenues - any fortune 100 employee, even the janitor, can understand that rationale. And the disruption to those months of curses, has left Sillie, and Celebrity still sailing with passengers, not closed and defunct. And sailing "full capacity" as you state, albeit at a discount and not at "full revenue" this winter Caribbean season to standard fares as both myself and the CEO Mr. Fain have stated.

 

I would quibble with many of your "facts," but unfortunately I need to move on to other priorities. I have a cruise to take in a few days, after all.

 

You have yet to" quibble" with or offer any facts to the contrary to those offered through my analysis, You have provided plenty of assumptions and hyperbole and rhetoric, however - which to a very small extent provide value to such analysis, but are far outweighed by measurable and tangible analysis in any business environment, fortune 100 companies included.

Edited February 11, 2015 by cle-guy

[Project_gal]

As to having to look at the construction debris (they have put up walls to hide it), that's no more distracting than non-formal wearing guests on formal night in the MDR.

 

 

I am willing to bet that Celebrity's construction work is much classier!