Another Long Time Celebrity Cruiser Jumping Ship

[MicCanberra]

You have 200 to 300 passengers on your roll calls?

 

We have twice but that has only happened on 10% of my cruises.

Even then, the 250+ people on the CC roll call, included their entire entourage and still only amounted to under 10% of the passengers on board.:D

[neverbeenhere]

Back on subject... Kind of. I see you are over on the Princess forum. I've been thinking of heading out on a Princess cruise or two. The prices are quite cheap for the ones I've checked out.

[MicCanberra]

Hildegard's Wonder World Cruises?

 

NCL perhaps?:D

[MicCanberra]

Back on subject... Kind of. I see you are over on the Princess forum. I've been thinking of heading out on a Princess cruise or two. The prices are quite cheap for the ones I've checked out.

 

Yes, if the itinerary and the pricing is right, go for it.:D

[wallie5446]

Back on subject... Kind of. I see you are over on the Princess forum. I've been thinking of heading out on a Princess cruise or two. The prices are quite cheap for the ones I've checked out.

 

We first sailed Princess in 1992, our most recent was on the Ruby Princess in 2012 and my wife commented all week that she could tell that Princess was now owned by Carnival. Was is horrid? No, but not the quality we were used to. There is a reason we could sail for a lot less. It will be quite a while before we book again, and we could drive to Houston in 3 hours, and sail in a balcony for $600 pp. The wifester would rather not cruise.

[ORV]

You have 200 to 300 passengers on your roll calls?

 

Quite frequently when we sail on Celebrity. It doesn't take much, 100 to 150 couples.

 

When we sail Oceania it only takes 60-120 people depending on which ship.

[richstowe]

For us, it was mainly that the overall product quality dropped below a level that made it truly enjoyable. Granted, some of the changes were minor but those were the things that made cruising so much fun. As far as pricing is concerned, at the end, we cut our on ship spend to $0 hoping the lower cost woul equate to a better time but it made no difference. It is their right to present their product anyway they choose, but as is, I don't think we'd be a buyer at any price. At one time we were one of Celebrity/RCL's biggest fans with 23 sailings and over 250 days at sea over the last 8 years.

Not defending X but when reading about those who spend zero on board and are now no longer interested in cruising with them , I've got to believe managements feelings are, Good! ( I do my best to make sure they don't love me either).:D

[Orator]

Not defending X but when reading about those who spend zero on board and are now no longer interested in cruising with them , I've got to believe managements feelings are, Good! ( I do my best to make sure they don't love me either).:D

 

A F&B Manager once told me that 32% of passengers don't spend extra while on board. Shouldn't surprise anyone that all lines, including Celebrity want to lose that segment of the market. Frequent cruisers bring with them the extra cost of benefits. I suspect someone at Celebrity cheers when a Zenith is replaced by a first time cruiser. They must be crying now since the Zeniths I know seem to be cruising more.

Decisions are based on profit potential, not customer desires to get more for less. RCCL is a for profit company and they appear to be meeting their goals.

[20pluscruises]

A F&B Manager once told me that 32% of passengers don't spend extra while on board. Shouldn't surprise anyone that all lines, including Celebrity want to lose that segment of the market. Frequent cruisers bring with them the extra cost of benefits. I suspect someone at Celebrity cheers when a Zenith is replaced by a first time cruiser. They must be crying now since the Zeniths I know seem to be cruising more.

Decisions are based on profit potential, not customer desires to get more for less. RCCL is a for profit company and they appear to be meeting their goals.

 

Not quite fair to us frequent cruisers who do spend onboard...only booked excursions through Celebrity, book at least one specialty restaurant each cruise, spend a LOT of $$$$ in the casino, (actually, lose a LOTof $$$$ in the casino) pay for bottle wine at dinner and only one time did we get a free bev package, pay for the premium package, massages, not to mention tipping above the norm. Maybe they could offer the daily aqua water if you book a specialty restaurant. I would be good with a little give and take. All of the taking away has got to stop. It really is getting ridiculous.

[Orator]

Not quite fair to us frequent cruisers who do spend onboard...only booked excursions through Celebrity, book at least one specialty restaurant each cruise, spend a LOT of $$$$ in the casino, (actually, lose a LOTof $$$$ in the casino) pay for bottle wine at dinner and only one time did we get a free bev package, pay for the premium package, massages, not to mention tipping above the norm. Maybe they could offer the daily aqua water if you book a specialty restaurant. I would be good with a little give and take. All of the taking away has got to stop. It really is getting ridiculous.

 

I wish it was about fairness. Celebrity has given me benefits based on Loyalty, such as a premium package, and has made them less valuable by raising drink prices beyond the limits of the benefit. Some talk now about including some drink package in the fare, which means that I will be paying for something I now get as a benefit. However, corporate decisions are not necessarily based on fairness, they're based on profit margins. Prices will continue to rise as long as people are willing to pay. Ships are full and advance bookings are strong. Hard to argue from a factual basis that the strategy isn't working. I don't see that changing in the near future as cruising finds new markets, especially in Asia.

[Gracie115]

Just for the heck of it I've been watching the available inventory on the 2017 spring TA on Reflection. We are booked on the 2016 sailing .... same cruise...same number of days. The prices are substantially higher on the 2017 cruise, in some cases more than twice as high.....especially for the suites... we booked our cruise for 2016 the day it was available to Captain's Club members.... and while trying to obtain a specific stateroom number watched the suites, all but Sky Suites, disappear from inventory in a matter of two weeks. This year, while watching the inventory for the 2017 sailing I note that two weeks out almost NONE of those same suites have been reserved......an interesting trend and a signal it seems to me that the "experienced" X cruiser is not buying into the much higher prices.....will be watching to see if those prices stay at their current level and if not, when X will believe they need to bring them back to more sellable numbers..... it's a waiting game.... and a gamble that X is obviously willing to take.... only time will tell if their "game" will prove profitable or not......

 

This is a TA cruise, so no perks involved in the higher costs.....

[richsea]

Regarding prices, I am looking forward to seeing what happens to fares after the wave season in January. I suspect that then we will have a clearer picture of whether or not people are blindly accepting the higher fares. If they are not, the prices will probaly come down accordingly.

[islandgirlejfan]

I feel like variety is the spice of life. I feel so fortunate to be even on the next cruise that we are going on...the Reflection in a week. We've had so much happen this year to us personally that this is going to be a very welcomed retreat. When it comes to cruising, I'm not really sure with the exception of the local businesses that we frequent that loyality means much anymore anyway. Our next booking is Princess and I am really looking forward to trying out another cruise line. My cruise bestie (we book together) loves certain aspects of it and hubby and I are eager to try out something new. For us, it will be fun because we will all be together enjoying life. So many cruise ships, so little time. It's not like we've never encountered issues on cruises, sure we have....but at this point, I'd rather make lemonade out of lemons. Too many other things going on in my life not to.

 

We are dying to do a river cruise and the Panama Canal, but it's not in the cards right at the moment. I am handling my parent's affairs and it's not real easy...it's hard enough leaving for this cruise. I'm planning to sit back and relax on this one, pull up a chair at our appointed cocktail time, sit in the back and watch the wake, and most of all enjoy time with my hubby and good friends (there are a number of us going on this cruise) and just enjoy life.

Edited December 22, 2015 by islandgirlejfan

[wallie5446]

. we booked our cruise for 2016 the day it was available to Captain's Club members.....

 

.an interesting trend and a signal it seems to me that the "experienced" X cruiser is not buying into the much higher prices.......

 

The new room on the Equinox for future sales has 6 desk, and waiting seats for 6-10. At times the wait was almost an hour to talk to someone. Sales were brisk! :D I get emails from friends every few days, saying we just booked this week, join us.

It would seem more experienced cruisers are doing as you did, and not waiting at all. A few post back someone commented they booked 3 more while on board.

 

If the product is something a person finds value with, they will buy it.

[Gracie115]

The new room on the Equinox for future sales has 6 desk, and waiting seats for 6-10. At times the wait was almost an hour to talk to someone. Sales were brisk! :D I get emails from friends every few days, saying we just booked this week, join us.

It would seem more experienced cruisers are doing as you did, and not waiting at all. A few post back someone commented they booked 3 more while on board.

 

If the product is something a person finds value with, they will buy it.

 

Ok....but then explain why nearly all the suites above SS on that TA I was referencing are still available when a year ago there were gone in a matter of 2 weeks......

 

No doubt, people are booking cruises....when I was on Eclipse there was a long wait too.....but we wound up NOT booking ....just because there is a wait does NOT necessarily mean each person/couple is actually booking a cruise....

[richsea]

I guess it's timing when it comes to the future cruise sales desks. On our Equinox sailing las mobth we walked in to a mostly empty room, sat down, got our quote (way too high), thanked the nice person, & left. First time in many cruises that we did not book while on board.

[WAVTAM]

Elite Plus passengers, who will still consider Celebrity based on price and itinerary.

However with over 100+ cruise with various lines, we do pick and choose.

We probable loose money to Celebrity as we don't need drink packages. spa or internet.

Always do independent tours(that's why Cruise Critic exists)

Have done every specialty restaurant.

Never by any FCC's. Don't shop on board.(that's why Amazon /ebay exist)

Always cash out the OBC thru casino from independent TA and use those monies for deposit on next cruise. Maybe not Celebrity.

[Dolphins]

As long time NCL Platinum cruisers, we have also departed because of the seemingly endless price increases across the board. Cruise companies will keep nickel and diming us until they cannot fill their ships anymore. A cruise vacation was once an economical, all-inclusive experience. It appears those days are gone forever.

Edited December 22, 2015 by Dolphins

[Olive1950]

I have no Celebrity cruises scheduled beyond Oct 2016, and I'm not even sure I'll still do those 2.

 

It is a 10-night Antilles cruise on Infinity with a lot of folks I met in Nov 2014. I currently have one of the PH suites booked; but am finding it extremely difficult to justify giving that much money to Celebrity when they don't give a tinkers' damn about me. I'll probably wait until final payment is due to cancel, and go on another line.

 

Celebrity has changed, and I don't like the changes, especially (but not limited to) BBB. Yes, I know that they brought back the candies on the pillow; that probably bankrupted them.... LOL!! Perhaps it is time for me to rediscover the other cruiselines that I'm the equivalent of Elite + on: Cunard and HAL. And I'm now Diamond Plus on RCI; and only 136 miles from Galveston. I have other options to explore.

[cjmayes51]

Not defending X but when reading about those who spend zero on board and are now no longer interested in cruising with them , I've got to believe managements feelings are, Good! ( I do my best to make sure they don't love me either).:D

 

Similar note: Just this year I put three people I work with on a cruise for the very first time- All 3 couples had never been on a cruise-a 60 year old, 27 year old & 42 year old & their wives. I gave them a ton of info & put them all on Cruise Critic to do research on what to do & not to do. All 7 day cruises on RCCL- 2x & 1 Carnival. When they returned all 3 couples said had a fantastic time but none thought they would go again any time soon, mainly because of what they spent on board- The 60 year old couple almost $1000 on tours, pictures, drinks & the like. They are set up on a 10 day AI in the Dominican in a few weeks instead- thinking it is much cheaper- . I realize Cruise lines want passengers who will spend $$ on ship, but sometimes that can and will backfire when all is said and done. We were that way in the late 80's when we started, but you can bring home only so many 8 x 10 photos & when you seem to cruise the same islands over & over in the Caribbean- ship tours are out. I retire at the end of next year & will be booking longer & more exotic cruises each year, but if you don't catch the bug- Celebrity & the other lines just may miss more of those new cruisers in the long run. Charlie

[jagoffee]

Elite Plus passengers, who will still consider Celebrity based on price and itinerary.

However with over 100+ cruise with various lines, we do pick and choose.

We probable loose money to Celebrity as we don't need drink packages. spa or internet.

Always do independent tours(that's why Cruise Critic exists)

Have done every specialty restaurant.

Never by any FCC's. Don't shop on board.(that's why Amazon /ebay exist)

Always cash out the OBC thru casino from independent TA and use those monies for deposit on next cruise. Maybe not Celebrity.

 

Just curious as to why you cash out your independent TA OBC at the Casino. It is refundable, correct?

 

Thanks

[El Crucero]

Just curious as to why you cash out your independent TA OBC at the Casino. It is refundable, correct?

 

Thanks

 

No it is not refundable. What you do is go buy some chips at the casino with your OBC. They take out a percentage, I think it is now 10% but I could be wrong. An hour later go and cash out your chips for dollars.

[wallie5446]

Just curious as to why you cash out your independent TA OBC at the Casino. It is refundable, correct?

 

Thanks

 

When on the Equinox over Thanksgiving, the casino cashier gave us cash, less the 5% fee. Never had to mess with chips, and never played a slot. Used it to pay for our tours.

Edited December 22, 2015 by wallie5446

[mafig]

I got my refundable obc from my TA in ca$h from Guest Relations on the last day.:)

[wallie5446]

Ok....but then explain why nearly all the suites above SS on that TA I was referencing are still available when a year ago there were gone in a matter of 2 weeks......

 

No doubt, people are booking cruises....when I was on Eclipse there was a long wait too.....but we wound up NOT booking ....just because there is a wait does NOT necessarily mean each person/couple is actually booking a cruise....

 

Why the Accord is the top selling car one yr, then it is the Camry the next. Why one ship and route fills quickly and others languish with open cabins.

 

Many a marketing person has tried to figure out, just like when to buy an sell in the stock market!:D

 

We have sailed RCCL, Princess, and Celebrity 3x in the past 5 years, and getting a cabin on X was harder than the other 2. All in Nov/Dec and on similar routes in the Caribbean.

 

So if any of us could really figure this out, we could make a bunch of $$ from all the cruise Co's!