Another Long Time Celebrity Cruiser Jumping Ship

[Lois R]

After a dozen years of sailing with Celebrity I am moving on.......

Taking my first River Cruise in April:D.....I know it is about 360 degrees

different than an Ocean Cruise but it is something I have wanted to

do for a long time and I have the opportunity so I am taking it:).....

 

I was on Summit last month and yes, I had a good time but now with

the new pricing program (I booked that one before the GO Program

came into being).....but anyway, when I went to the FCC while on SUMMIT

and looked at a window cabin for next year on Summit.....lets just say

this is the first time in many years I have nothing booked on X.....not

even a deposit.

 

Seems I am not the only one changing.....I have read several threads

and know several people who are also switched.....I guess everyone

has their own reasons but I just know I am so looking forward to this

River Cruise.....sailing out of Amsterdam in the Spring....it is called

TULIP TIME:)

 

Not sure what I am going to do next fall......Maybe Celebrity, maybe

not.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Never thought I'd see this from you Lois. You are a long time Celebrity cruiser and while I see booking a river cruise did not think you would give up on X. I've looked as several lines but just find it hard to give up the perks with Celebrity as Elite + but it might be coming to that. Will have to see how our March cruise goes to decide.

[Formerly known as Seabee]

Hi Lo. There are plenty of fish in the sea. I have sailed Princess and RCCL several times and am returning to X next summer for first time since 2007. It will be interesting to see the changes.

[maggie.1008]

Your not the only one Lois. I am a big X fan with 23 cruises. My next cruise will be with Oceana . The price of suites on X has made me look at other options. Cheers, Heather

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I looked at switching to Oceania for our upcoming March 2016 cruise because the dates and sail ports are the same. I had a hard time jumping ship because of the perks I would be giving up, especially on a 14 day cruise. We discussed this and agreed that a 7 day to start is a better trial so who knows what will happen in the future.

 

What made you decide to switch Heather?

[warmwinds]

Lois, but what you are doing is not apples to apples, I'm afraid.

 

If you were jumping to another mainstream large ship, I'd want to know the who, what, where, when, why.

 

A river cruise is a completely different thing, and I hope you have a wonderful time.

[ECCruise]

But it doesn't have to be apples to apples.

It is simply that a formerly loyal =X= cruiser is moving on. And if you (and Celebrity) doesn't see a trend here....

[Lois R]

Lois, but what you are doing is not apples to apples, I'm afraid.

 

If you were jumping to another mainstream large ship, I'd want to know the who, what, where, when, why.

 

A river cruise is a completely different thing, and I hope you have a wonderful time.

 

I know...I said that in my first post;)...I know it is totally different

but I am still going elsewhere. And honestly, I don't know that I will

be booking with X (even after the River Cruise). I am not going to say

never but it is not "a given" I am booking my next Ocean Cruise with

them.

Edited December 11, 2015 by Lois R

[Lois R]

Never thought I'd see this from you Lois. You are a long time Celebrity cruiser and while I see booking a river cruise did not think you would give up on X. I've looked as several lines but just find it hard to give up the perks with Celebrity as Elite + but it might be coming to that. Will have to see how our March cruise goes to decide.

 

I know you normally book 14 night cruises.....I never do that but anyway,

I know the perks are good but to be honest, I am so looking forward

to this River Cruise..:D Tulips in the Netherlands in the Springtime.

 

Oh, I am Elite + on Celebrity too.....will see what happens down the

road.....I am just really looking forward to this new adventure.:)

[Lois R]

Hi Lo. There are plenty of fish in the sea. I have sailed Princess and RCCL several times and am returning to X next summer for first time since 2007. It will be interesting to see the changes.

 

Hi Sea:D nice to see you;)....yes, this new adventure feels like a very

good thing to me!

[hcat]

Lois

hope you enjoy the River cruise...we have a few more booked on X with good perks, but are also going to try Princess...maybe Azamara...or one of the sailing type cruises,

 

You were a great resource and friend to the boards...hope you'll stop back and let us know about your new experience!

 

Hcat and Sal

[cruise kitty]

Hi Lois, we're on board for a getaway cruise in a couple of days, & for the first time, I won't be buying an open passage. (or whatever they're called nowadays)

 

Was planning on booking for Europe 2017 on board, but looking at the prices, & itineraries... I think I'm going to pass, unless they have an amazing offer on board...I have my eye on a few, but I'm going to play the waiting game for better offers/specials. No matter how nice Celebrity's ships are, there comes a point when the value is no longer there.

 

We booked next week's cruise just a couple of weeks ago, & I think if we stick with Celebrity that's what we'll be doing now, choose a cruise, buy the airfare, but don't book until the last minute.

 

After our May 2106 cruise, this will be the first time since 2008 that Celebrity has not had a large amount of our money banked with them.

 

Hope you have a great time on your river cruise!

[Nanatravel]

Lois although I am surprised, we are in the same "boat" pardon the pun. I don't have any specific adverse reasons regarding Celebrity. We all knew the "123 and perks" of the last few years had to come to an end. We too did not book an FCC on Board last month. Our next cruise (which was already booked and not cheap) is 10 nights on a Princess ship. Then late in November, we have a Celebrity TA (first TA for us) booked. Hubby wants to go on a River cruise like you, but we have not made that move yet.

 

Anyone who believes they are getting something for nothing now with the Go program, is not realistic. Friends of mine booked a FC while sailing with us and I have the copy of their invoice; $315 per person for the Go Best program. It is a good value if you use all of the products including Premium Alcoholic package, Gratuities, Internet and OBC but do they need all of that. OBC and Gratuities is great but they enjoyed the Classic Package and don't intend to use the internet while vacationing.

 

Celebrity was my first cruise line and probably will remain my favorite. River Cruising vs. Premium Cruise line is like a land vacation you plan yourself and an All Inclusive resort; similar but different. Have a great time.

[wvufan]

Lois, we don't have any Celebrity booked either-and we have had over 200 nights at sea with them. We do have 3 RCL booked. We have a 12 nighter out of Baltimore (very convenient for us-we used to sail on the Mercury out of there) and a 10 and 11 nighter back to back on the Serenade in Feb. Great itinerary.

 

Celebrity used to be a perfect fit for us, and we really love the perks from E+, but just don't get the warm fuzzies like we used to. We like the longer cruises, but they are harder to come by.

 

I know you will love the river cruise and your new adventure.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE Baby :D:D Bob and Phyl

[ORV]

Your not the only one Lois. I am a big X fan with 23 cruises. My next cruise will be with Oceana . The price of suites on X has made me look at other options. Cheers, Heather

 

Make sure you go on Oceania, not P & O Oceana, big difference.

[EMS8]

Lois,

Have a great river cruise. I hope you enjoy it as much as the Celebrity cruises you've taken. After nearly 20 years with only sailing Celebrity, we've decided it's time for a change. Celebrity doesn't seem to value the long time customers anymore, and since Michel Roux left, the food has declined to not much better than cafeteria food.

[maggie.1008]

Sorry for the miss spell. Oceania is my next cruise. Our last cruises with X have been in sky suites. Luminae has not been enough to make me rebook at the present prices. Oceania dining options on the Riviera look smashing. My good friend and travel agent just came back from that ship and convinced me to book. She has been very loyal to X and has many cruises with them. We have a PH suite booked at a price I am comfortable with. We also have another X cruise booked in May on the Infinity in a AQ 1 cabin. I am still concerned about the noise issues that might come with the new Terrace and Movie screen on Deck 12 of the M Class ships. Final payment on X Infinity is still a few months away. I am paid in full on the Oceania Riviera for March so I will have time to compare. Will let you know after I complete that cruise.

[jelayne]

Lois, I hope you enjoy your river cruise. We tried our first one this year and while everything was fine we determined river cruising isn't for us.

 

We have 5 more cruises booked with X in the next 16 months ( all with 123 Go) beyond that we haven't found anything or any reason to book another with X. The elimination of bottled water in AQ was the breaking point. We have a drink package so getting water isn't the issue it was just the final straw in cost cutting! I think we will look at a land tour in Asia and wait to see what last minute opportunities open up in the future.

 

I hope you fine river cruising is for you-it opens up so much of the world that one will never see from a ocean liner.

[dkjretired]

Hi Lois:

 

Have a great River Cruise, things are truly different, we have one booked and will just have to see how it goes. As you know we have been spending about 12 weeks a year at our time share in Disney. Think we are going to expand since our time share has places all over the world.

 

I am also very surprised at your post, I hope Celebrity reads this and maybe someone familiar with the boards realizes what they are losing.

 

Best Wishes

Edited December 11, 2015 by dkjretired

[Lois R]

Hi folks...thanks for all the good wishes and kind words:)

 

And hello Bob:D....and Don:)

 

Don, you have a River Cruise booked? Which line did you go with?

I am going on AMA Waterways.....they were highly recommended.

[TeaBag]

Lois, have a great river cruise. The Tulip time one sounds wonderful. I'm sure it will include a tour of the Keukenhof gardens which we consider one of the top 5 most beautiful places we have ever been. I think when we try a river cruise it will be with AMA also. We toured in Warnemunde this year with a guy who does land tours like the one we were on and also tours with AMA.

 

Now that even you are disenchanted with Celebrity, I consider this whole cost cutting business a more serious thing. We have about 10 days to cancel a B2B2B and we are thinking about it.

[4cats4me]

Hi folks...thanks for all the good wishes and kind words:)

 

 

 

And hello Bob:D....and Don:)

 

 

 

Don, you have a River Cruise booked? Which line did you go with?

 

I am going on AMA Waterways.....they were highly recommended.

 

 

Hi Lois,

We just got back from a Med. Cruise on RCCL, and when we toured Monserrat (near BARCELONA) we did a private tour, and on our tour was a couple who had just gotten back from an AMA River Cruise. She said it was top notch. Put Viking River Cruises to shame, she said. She said AMA is a first-class operation and they have booked another cruise with them.

 

What in the world is going on with Celebrity? We last cruised x in April 2014 and were in the last cruise before they cut activities staff down to one from six, changed spa vendors, and increased specialty restaurant prices. I was away from the x board for most of 2015, but then I noticed an influx of x

Loyalists defecting and coming over to the Princess board, where I am more active, then last night I read a thread regarding AQ and no more daily bottled water in AQ cabins. They tried to instate that right before our last cruise with x And people squawked and corporate reinstated the daily water. Now I see they taketh the water away again.

Also, right after our last cruise is when x inflated their rates outrageously, so we explored other options and booked with RCCL and Princess

Anyway, I was curious when I saw your thread pop up tonight on Tapatalk.

 

Take care, Lois

 

Hope you're doing well !

 

DANA

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited December 11, 2015 by 4cats4me

[eandj]

You will find the river cruise different, but we really enjoyed our two. You are going on a wonderful line and Amsterdam is one of our favorites. Food and service will be top notch. And the tours included are always the best. For us the highlight of river cruising is having the boat stop right smack in the center of the beautiful little towns.

 

After so many ocean cruises we found river cruising a nice change. We threw in 4 Princess cruises and an Oceania to break up the X duldrums too over the last 3 years. We enjoy switching things up nowadays. You will too. Happy travels!

[KikisDad]

Celebrity is still our favorite because of Blu and the "free" drink package. We also sail frequently with Princess. The new Celebrity prices are too high and will have to drop to remain competitive.

[richsea]

Enjoy your river cruise Lois. I'll be waiting for you to share your experience.

 

I feel as you do regarding Celebrtiy. While we still enjoy the X experience, between the rediculous prices for future cruises, & their continued chipping away of the little things that used to set them apart, after 28 Celebrity sailings! we are at least changing our booking strategy to last minute specials, or looking at other lines. We are also looking into a river cruise. With the high prices, even with booking incentives, we no longer book while on board.

 

The unfortunate truth is that Celebrity does not much care about their long time cruisers, & all of their marketing efforts are geared to the suite guest, who ironically are complaining more than ever about feeling cheated when X doesn't deliver the exactly what they promised.