"Some amazing changes coming to Celebrity fleet" announcement mid-week this week!

[hvsteve1]

I think Celebrity's mention of "cabanas" during the day is a tip off. My guess is this is going to be a pay-for-use area like the cabanas on ships with lawns where you pay for the cabana and get food and drinks delivered. Because of the movies, they will probably kick the day tenants out around dinner time and re-rent the space for the evening activities. If the space is free, I can see hogging the cabanas make fighting over deck chairs look like child's play. So far as sound pollution, they refer to it as "surround sound" which makes me think there will be speakers (which are fairly inexpensive) placed in each cabana. I would hope they don't plan on using theater type subwoofers as, if they do, people not in the area may not hear the sound but will feel the constant thump,thump, thump. Did you ever notice, in the multiplex, you might not hear the sound from the next auditorium but the sound of explosions and such sometimes comes through the wall?

[cle-guy]

Maybe it is, but it seems a shame that they don't want my business if I'm sailing solo and don't want to be relegated to an inside cabin.

 

FYI, I travel solo most times too, and had this issue when booking a GTY. When calling in they booked me as a solo when the website wouldn't - and I have read that this seems to be the case all the time if calling in, you get it. But I have added your details to the list. :-)

[need2bespoiled]

I think Celebrity's mention of "cabanas" during the day is a tip off. My guess is this is going to be a pay-for-use area like the cabanas on ships with lawns where you pay for the cabana and get food and drinks delivered. Because of the movies, they will probably kick the day tenants out around dinner time and re-rent the space for the evening activities. If the space is free, I can see hogging the cabanas make fighting over deck chairs look like child's play. So far as sound pollution, they refer to it as "surround sound" which makes me think there will be speakers (which are fairly inexpensive) placed in each cabana. I would hope they don't plan on using theater type subwoofers as, if they do, people not in the area may not hear the sound but will feel the constant thump,thump, thump. Did you ever notice, in the multiplex, you might not hear the sound from the next auditorium but the sound of explosions and such sometimes comes through the wall?

 

Did you look at the pictures. I think they could easily allow free and open seating in the pictures shown and pay (or not) for the cabanas aft (right of picture). I would bet MUTS is free, but it doesn't really matter to me either way. I pay $11 for a movie at home or on a ship. I pay $11 for Yoga at home, or on a ship. Cruise prices (and airfare) are both incredibly low, if you look at the trend over a long time, so they can't include everything.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[perditax]

If you have a list with real links I need them emailed. I would need a Link to the pages you have issues, with. Also, only website related, can't help with phone center issues.

 

I don't see it as sad, at all, perhaps Celebrity just finds these threads to be full of information that is almost useful. This is why I need a link to a problem page to add. We are giving very specific details.

 

One thing I did add is making sure special fares have their restrictions more clearly articulated so folks know if they will lose perks etc for changes.

 

This doesn't seem worth an email, plus I'm paranoid about my anonymity and don't have a throwaway account handy, but if this link works you will see Tuscan Grill listed as an "Italian Stakehouse":

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/cruiseplanner/category/2011/product/100000002178304620

 

May need to be logged in.

 

Not a 'bug', just looks unpolished/unprofessional, especially if this is their flagship speciality dining venue. I got to it by exploring my upcoming cruise and going to the dining options.

 

EDIT: Sigh, no, the link won't work most likely. When I tried to backtrack and come up with exact instructions on how to find the page with the typo, I got locked out with 'The requested reservation is currently being modified. Please try again in 20 minutes.', which is something else that should go on the list (this is what cookies are for, I think).

Edited October 10, 2015 by perditax

[richstowe]

I have corresponded with a couple of them who monitor this site offline. They get lots of laughs from this forum for sure.

 

Your timing couldn't be better. :-)

 

Just yesterday, we were asked to start accumulating a single list of the most common website issues we get from customers.

 

I have been posting many. We have a single form on a GoogleDocs that we are all adding the issues to as we come across them. I've listed half a dozen issues or so far.....

[

If you have a pet peeve or 2, email them to me, happy to add them if not already there. But we do need specifics, and links to failed pages etc. are most helpful.

So lets see if I've got this straight - Complaints on CC about changes make them laugh but complaints about their web site are taken seriously . Seriously ? One is worthy of consideration but the other is cause for derision . Wow .

[perditax]

So lets see if I've got this straight - Complaints on CC about changes make them laugh but complaints about their web site are taken seriously . Seriously ? One is worthy of consideration but the other is cause for derision . Wow .

 

I get what you're saying, but in a sense I find the crappy/unpolished/unfunctional websites of many mass-market cruise lines to be the more egregious situation from a business standpoint--it is a technical problem that places obstacles in the way of customers giving them money, which is phenomenally dumb in 2015. It took me a couple of weeks to get logged into DCL's site in August to book an excursion (although they have since then replaced their site), and a few weeks ago I was thisclose to putting a deposit on an NCL cruise for 2016, but the site crapped out and lost all my info at the last minute and I took it as a sign to hold off.

 

And if you want an exercise in frustration and hilarity, try playing around with mock bookings on X late at night on your iPad mini. :) Or, god forbid, on NCL. Just the process of fighting with the dropdown box for 'number of guests' is usually enough to send me to the box store's site instead.

 

Now let's look at Amazon for contrast--their site and all their apps make it very, very easy for me to give them money. And so they get a lot of it from me.

 

Paying attention to social media is the other side of the same coin--recognizing that it is 2015. At the same time, no cruise company can use this particular forum as their sole source of 'customer satisfaction' data. For one thing, it would be impossible to make everyone happy.

 

I'm really curious to see if Virgin launches with a functional site/app, but the other lines have a few years to catch up.

Edited October 10, 2015 by perditax

[need2bespoiled]

So lets see if I've got this straight - Complaints on CC about changes make them laugh but complaints about their web site are taken seriously . Seriously ? One is worthy of consideration but the other is cause for derision . Wow .

 

Is it a complaint, when someone "complains" about a problem and change that they haven't even tried, and doesn't exist?

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[A Sixth?]

Is it a complaint, when someone "complains" about a problem and change that they haven't even tried, and doesn't exist?

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

You weren't there were you? :mad:

 

I was for the test run.... It sucked!

 

Edited October 10, 2015 by A Sixth?

[Ma Bell]

There's a difference in speculating about something and complaining. There are also times when it's fairly obvious that there will be some kind of negative effect even when the extent of it is not known. If one has actually been in one of the aft Aqua cabins it's obvious, I was in one last month. The area above them is usually empty or very few people there. The balconies are almost completely uncovered. It's a no brainer to see that there will be some impact. Hopefully it won't be too bad. That remains to be seen.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Ma Bell

[A Sixth?]

There's a difference in speculating about something and complaining. There are also times when it's fairly obvious that there will be some kind of negative effect even when the extent of it is not known. If one has actually been in one of the aft Aqua cabins it's obvious, I was in one last month. The area above them is usually empty or very few people there. The balconies are almost completely uncovered. It's a no brainer to see that there will be some impact. Hopefully it won't be too bad. That remains to be seen.

 

I hope so too.

 

As we spend more and more time cruising on ships instead of our own boat and slump into retirement it seems a shame that one of the very reasons we switched from Princess to celebrity will be parked right over our heads... :(

 

MUTS. Been there heard that didn't care for it. (YMMV)

Edited October 10, 2015 by A Sixth?

[cle-guy]

So lets see if I've got this straight - Complaints on CC about changes make them laugh but complaints about their web site are taken seriously . Seriously ? One is worthy of consideration but the other is cause for derision . Wow .

 

I'm guessing they may realize this site represents a minority of their cruisers. Also lots of the internet complaints are very vague, and rarely do they include specific, actionable links to specific issues.

 

As to changes, by the time we hear of them, they are way too far along the path to revert. People back form the panama Canal cruise on Infinity report already that construction materials are already up on the ball courts, so it was physically already in action pre-announcement. Also so many posters say I'm leaving X, but in reality they have multiple bookings, so they leads to even less credibility in these forums.

 

They are not making these changes here just because they feel like it, they have got to be following guest comments, emails, etc. which carry more weight than an anonymous website. Only 40% of cruisers have cruised before, how many of that 40% are represented in these forums? I'm guessing it's likely to be relatively insignificant.

 

What this signals to me, is they are looking for a focused list of specific and actionable issues, and that's what we are gathering. Even here, I've asked for emails (it is posted in my footer), yet no one can even follow that simple instruction/request! If I hadn't bothered to come back to this thread, the suggestions, as with all other web issues, would have merely dissolved into space.

 

Sheesh, finally something may have some actual promise of resolving some issues, and people STILLL feel the need to complain. Is it any wonder we don't see a lot from the Celebrity Rep in these boards? Why would they want to deal with us. Instead, they will deal with face to face issues, rely on comments from post cruise emails, and follow modern trends and their competition to determine where to go with the business, and not some internet forum. Sure this forum is a good place to get a general idea of things, but its also full of the vocal minority, not representing the majority.

 

In any case, I am reporting in the specific issues as I find and receive them. You can choose to be helpful, or remain passive aggressive and do nothing but complain and give vague references that are inactionable. One I can work with, the other I got nuthin. Makes no matter to me either way but if I get an actionable Item, I'm happy to properly log it into our tracking document for consideration buy the powers that be.

Edited October 10, 2015 by cle-guy

[Wickets]

If the are willing to spend the money on the sound system, the are very focused speakers that can be used to avoid the sound pollution

[cle-guy]

If the are willing to spend the money on the sound system, the are very focused speakers that can be used to avoid the sound pollution

 

Worst case, there are 5 aft facing cabins that suddenly become less desirable, to those who don't like the movie sounds, but will be eagerly booked by those who want the wake views and care less about the action upstairs.

[Ma Bell]

Worst case, there are 5 aft facing cabins that suddenly become less desirable, to those who don't like the movie sounds, but will be eagerly booked by those who want the wake views and care less about the action upstairs.

 

No, obviously you don't understand the problem. This area covers or is in close proximity to almost all the Aqua Class cabins on deck 11. The balconies on the side are uncovered as well and probably have an even greater chance of being impacted than those on the aft. Unless they find another way to access the area it will also impact traffic in the aft elevators and the hallways on deck 11.

 

From the looks of it, it would also be appealing to people to sit up there late at night even when there are no movies playing.

 

As, I said, hopefully it won't be too bad but those cabins are certainly not going to be the little oasis that they have been.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Ma Bell

[need2bespoiled]

You weren't there were you? :mad:

 

I was for the test run.... It sucked!

 

 

I most certainly was. I sailed three sailings, 3 weeks total on Summit when they had MUTS on the program, one to "Bermuda" in 2014 and two this past April to the Caribbean.

 

Never heard a PEEP of it, as others who stayed in deck 11 reported. Granted, I was on deck 6, but, shrug, you still haven't seen what they're going to do with the space and how the furnishings will impact the sound.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[A Sixth?]

I most certainly was. I sailed three sailings, 3 weeks total on Summit when they had MUTS on the program, one to "Bermuda" in 2014 and two this past April to the Caribbean.

 

Never heard a PEEP of it, as others who stayed in deck 11 reported. Granted, I was on deck 6, but, shrug, you still haven't seen what they're going to do with the space and how the furnishings will impact the sound.

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

 

Man you guys are tough :p

 

[ghstudio]

Worst case, there are 5 aft facing cabins that suddenly become less desirable, to those who don't like the movie sounds, but will be eagerly booked by those who want the wake views and care less about the action upstairs.

 

Celebrity will do what they think is right as a business. We (that's all of us) will do what we think is right for us. I'm as disappointed as the next person, but I have no control other than to switch cabins, switch ships or switch cruise lines....and those are all under my control as are my $'s.

 

Yes, I think this change really degrades the deck 11 cabins which we have enjoyed in the past....and we'll avoid any of the M-class with converted MUTS deck 12's since we normally book aqua...although there are a few A2's that are quiet which we still might consider. We have some bookings on deck 11 of the Millennium so we'll watch and see what happens...and we'll cancel quickly if they convert to MUTS. I'm sure Celebrity will fill our cabin...and the new bookie will be happy as will we on our alternate non celebrity travelling.

Edited October 10, 2015 by ghstudio

[richstowe]

In any case, I am reporting in the specific issues as I find and receive them. You can choose to be helpful, or remain passive aggressive and do nothing but complain and give vague references that are inactionable. One I can work with, the other I got nuthin. Makes no matter to me either way but if I get an actionable Item, I'm happy to properly log it into our tracking document for consideration buy the powers that be.

In "real life", I have never been called passive aggressive . Usually aggressive aggressive . Frankly my motivations in commenting here are not about protecting and promoting my financial investment . Nor am I looking to have someone to work with or to log "into our tracking document for consideration buy the powers that be." . Thank you for your kind offer .

[Host Jazzbeau]

I hope so too.

 

As we spend more and more time cruising on ships instead of our own boat and slump into retirement it seems a shame that one of the very reasons we switched from Princess to celebrity will be parked right over our heads... :(

 

MUTS. Been there heard that didn't care for it. (YMMV)

 

I agree. But if you're going from your own boat, the smaller cruise ships should be even more appealing. Not only no MUTS – no muzak everywhere.

 

PS -- it's not "slumping" into retirement -- it's sliding and shouting Whoopee!

Edited October 10, 2015 by Host Jazzbeau

[Host Jazzbeau]

Your timing couldn't be better. :-)

 

Just yesterday, we were asked to start accumulating a single list of the most common website issues we get from customers.

 

I have been posting many. We have a single form on a GoogleDocs that we are all adding the issues to as we come across them. I've listed half a dozen issues or so far.....

• Not showing taxes till last step of booking
  
• Adding gratuities to the bill even if one picked free gratuities or at least make a note it will be removed so people don't freak
  
• the Jr. fiasco
  
• Adjust BBB pricing display so it only offers perks that are financially helpful to the customer
  
• Make it easier to "go back" in a reservation process to the start without losing it all
  
• Display ALL open cabins, not just 5, so people can seek connecting cabins easier
  
• Make Luggage tag ordering simpler, like add a check box as part of OLCI to mail them automatically if one wants them, don't require a visit back
  

 

If you have a pet peeve or 2, email them to me, happy to add them if not already there. But we do need specifics, and links to failed pages etc. are most helpful.

 

This is a good list to start. Another would be: when the website is down for maintenance in the middle of the night, please remember that's it's NOT the middle of the night in other parts of the world [or to night owls like yours truly] -- and post a notice that it isn't going to work for a few hours!

 

But maybe I missed it: who is the "we" who were asked to compile this list? I'm also a stockholder, but I wasn't asked.

[socreader]

Sorry to tell you, but they are going to be replacing Normandie with Tuscan.

 

I hope not.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Sorry to tell you, but they are going to be replacing Normandie with Tuscan.

 

I hope not.

 

Sadly, yes. Gourmet food and classic service isn't "modern luxury." But I wonder if the Art Deco panels will turn up on E-bay?

Edited October 10, 2015 by Host Jazzbeau

[cle-guy]

No, obviously you don't understand the problem. This area covers or is in close proximity to almost all the Aqua Class cabins on deck 11. The balconies on the side are uncovered as well and probably have an even greater chance of being impacted than those on the aft. Unless they find another way to access the area it will also impact traffic in the aft elevators and the hallways on deck 11.

 

I used the deck plan website that lets you drag decks over each other.

 

Aligning the exit stairwell steps as the key between deck 11 and 12, and the wall of the funnel on deck 12 as guides as to cabins under the space,the 15 possibly affected cabins will be:

• 1125/27/31/35/39 port side
  
• 1122/24/28/32/36 starboard
  
• 1133/41/40/38/30 aft
  

This leaves 22 deck 11 cabins not under the space.

[cle-guy]

I hope not.

 

It's true, It was formally announced yesterday, thus the purpose of this thread, as suite upgrades are part of it as well as adding the MUTS on deck 12, revamping casino and solarium pool area, and adding a formal portrait studio.

 

Infinity is getting done soon (forget October or november), and Summit in Feb/Mar drydock.

[Ma Bell]

I used the deck plan website that lets you drag decks over each other.

 

Aligning the exit stairwell steps as the key between deck 11 and 12, and the wall of the funnel on deck 12 as guides as to cabins under the space,the 15 possibly affected cabins will be:

• 1125/27/31/35/39 port side
  
• 1122/24/28/32/36 starboard
  
• 1133/41/40/38/30 aft
  

This leaves 22 deck 11 cabins not under the space.

 

They don't have to be directly under the space to be impacted. If you have a lot of noise up there with no glass walls surrounding it the people in all those cabins will likely hear it. As I said, hopefully it won't be too bad but if you look at their renderings, it looks as if the sides are open with nothing to buffer the sound. Let's wait and see but there's no need to tell everyone how it's going to be before we know. There are no experts on every subject on these boards.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Ma Bell