Lisa Lutoff-Perlo and X's new direction

[maggie.1008]

After cruising with X for 16 years I am no longer the X cheerleader. Nothing really bad but nothing great either. We book Aqua or Sky suites. The prices are now so high that we can cruise Oceania for the same price. We like their 2 larger ships. We are going from Rome to Venice in Oct. in a balcony cabin with free air plus $99. upgrade to Premium Economy, free internet, and $600. OBC on Oceania Riviera for less than we did our last Infinity Pac. Coastal in AQ. The food in all restaurants are far better than Blu or Luminae. We will still cruise with X if the price is right but I don`t see that happening in suites.

[pbrady]

I totally agree with the original poster. We started cruising when my girls were 6 mos & 2 years old. They were Elite by the time they finished their undergraduate degrees. One is now an orthopedic surgeon & the other has her masters in mechanical engineering & is a manager at an engineering firm. Do they have the money? Yep, more than we ever had. Do they cruise? Nope - neither one even wants to cruise. First, it is hard to even get 7 days off in a row; it is the same old ports that they already have seen many times & they can do so much by more planning their own vacations. The young people, that I know anyway, are much more adventurous and like to cover a lot more territory - a cruise is too slow. They have been on all 7 continents at least once & pack a lot into 24 hours. One daughter tried a 7 night Silhouette about 6 months ago & said the entertainment was terrible, the activities were down to almost none, a lot of the special perks she remembered from Celebrity years ago were gone & she said it will probably be another 10 years before she goes again.

[DancerOT]

As someone in her mid-30's, I find some of the disparaging remarks about people in my age bracket rather rude. There are a lot of different types of people in the age group and to clump us all together as one is ridiculous.

 

Yes, I am money conscious - I have to be as my salary is not as high as I would like and I live in a "high rent district". Yes, I have student loans, but I also made really smart moves to get them consolidated at a low interest rate. I also save my money and carefully budget and plan. Yes, I enjoy more adventurous vacations. However, that doesn't mean I don't also enjoy a Celebrity cruise. As a single person, my greatest challenge is finding someone to go with me due to so many preconceived notions. Some of the changes that X has been undergoing have helped me to convince one of my closest friends and best travel buddies to give X another try, so I am appreciative of that.

 

Truthfully, I would like to see X add more varied entertainment options such as more live music, more comedians, piano bars, and figuring out a way to get more people partying at night. I don't know all the answers, but what I do know is that in January my entire family is going on a cruise to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th birthday. Celebrity fits the bill for a group of us aged 1 to 90. No other cruise line fit all of our needs. Will I go searching for my adventure? Yes - jet skiing in Grand Cayman and look for something else in another island.

 

Life is about finding balances and Celebrity is trying to find theirs. In order to continue, they cannot rely solely on one demographic. They absolutely have to appeal to more than one age group.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Toying with first Azamara cruise. With most things provided, I'm loss to understand what being a Elite Plus on X would benefit us on Azamara. Can you explain.

 

Elite Plus on X = Discoverer Plus on Azamara. Benefits are:

• Onboard Future Voyage Savings: 7%* savings, 50%* reduced deposit*

• Reserved Passage: $200 onboard credit

• Open Passage: Reduced deposit is non-refundable

• Six earned complimentary nights, plus three earned complimentary nights when you reach 1,500 points, and three more when you reach 2,250 points [if 50% of points are on Azamara]

• 120 free Internet minutes

• One free bag laundry service, per stateroom, per seven-night voyage

• 25% savings on signature Spa treatments*

• Gift Shop savings: 5% savings when spending $1,000 or more in Fine Jewelry, or 10% savings when spending $2,000 or more in Fine Jewelry*.

• Priority check-in at select ports

• Exclusive onboard get-together for Discoverer members and above

• plus other benefits that all Le Club Voyage members get

[bigbenboys]

My daughter (34) grew up cruising with us exclusively on Celebrity and Princess. Now that she is married and working on Wall Street she doesn't like cruising because in her words:

- they have little to no decent music entertainment at night and it stops way too early;

- they like to sleep in in the mornings. By the time they head to buffet all the hot food is no longer served

- next is lunch at 3 pm (because late breakfast) and there is nothing but the grille, pizza or pasta open. How many days can you eat the same boring things

- the music by the pool is terrible. We have iPods, iPads and iPhones to listen to our own tunes. So turn off the music so it doesn't compete

- Quiet please, I am trying to nap by the pool. I'm hung over from drinking last night because there was nothing else to do

 

Ohhhh I could go on...I've heard all these complaints every time we suggest another family trip. But thought Lisa and her team might be interested in this feedback.

 

I'm not 34. I'm 58 and I agree with the above. Out at the pool I want music of today, not of 30 years ago. Breakfast ends to early, 9am on port days. We book Aqua or Sky Suites.

I do think that Celebrity is a good mix for us and they are going in the right direction. Just did a cruise on RCL. What a mad house. We have done Azamara they are nice, but to small and stuffy. We just looked at a Azamara cruise yesterday. So they are not off the table.

[cscurlock]

The future is the millennials. I believe with the current ships they have, they are doing a decent job of providing a large array of benefits and room classes based on peoples price range. This range of options allows Celebrity to bring in all types of people and demographics. The common areas had to be adjusted to please a majority of the demographics. I suspect the new edge class ships will separate the suite life sort of like the Haven on NCL. This feature will isolate the people who like the more formal way of cruising. That way, everyone gets what they want.

[JCruise85]

It's funny. I keep seeing these posts decrying the younger cruises and millennials. However, my experience is a bit different.

As someone that enjoys traveling and cruising, and is in their very early 30s, most of the people I see not ad hearing to any sort of dress code and acting foolish have been in their late 40s to 50s.

All of the entertainment on Celebrity still caters mostly to an older demo, as well.

And even if some of it is trying (albeit poorly) to appeal to younger cruisers, why is that bad?

Stagnation is death for a business. Simple facts.

 

Celebrity definitely seems to still be one of the top cruise lines for people of all ages, unless your thing is water slides 24/7.

Edited July 16, 2016 by JCruise85

[ECCruise]

I suspect the new edge class ships will separate the suite life sort of like the Haven on NCL. This feature will isolate the people who like the more formal way of cruising. That way, everyone gets what they want.

 

But who would that be? The suite class or everyone else?

[ChucktownSteve]

I wonder how much difference there is in musical royalties paid on much older songs vs. the current songs. Would that have anything to do with what Celebrity selects to play around the ship? If they nickle and dime on the water in Aqua class, why wouldn't they do the same on music if there's a difference in cost?

[kelmac]

The future is the millennials. I believe with the current ships they have, they are doing a decent job of providing a large array of benefits and room classes based on peoples price range. This range of options allows Celebrity to bring in all types of people and demographics. The common areas had to be adjusted to please a majority of the demographics. I suspect the new edge class ships will separate the suite life sort of like the Haven on NCL. This feature will isolate the people who like the more formal way of cruising. That way, everyone gets what they want.

 

How many people under the age of 30, make $100,000 or more per year?

Just under 1.2% in the US. According to the BLS's 2010 data[1], there were 25.4m 16-24-year-olds and 19.0m 25-29-year-olds who earned incomes[2] in that year, of whom 122k and 401k (respectively) earned $100,000+.

 

Most of these people (1.2%) live in expensive cities, like NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, LA, San Diego..., Millennials bounce from job to job, rent, and are having a difficult time saving money. I think their are a great generation of really nice kids and I hope the best for them!

 

Celebrity's demographic should be 35 to 65 year olds; people with no or few children; double incomes; little debt; and time off to travel.

 

Celebrity is our "go-to" cruise line, but we find ourselves cruising other lines as of late. Celebrity is the only line that consistently makes us feel special each and every time we board, but with the shift to suites, and a classed ship, we don't get that vibe anymore. In our circle of friends we are know as the "cruise couple" and we have encouraged dozens of people to cruise Celebrity -- what should I tell them now? After 29 cruises with Celebrity we have three cruises booked, none with "X".

 

Time will tell.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[casper106]

Both our son and daughter are in the mid-30's professional people.They have travelled extensively all over the world. Cruising isn't on their radar for many reasons. They are active and prefer more eco-friendly,active kinds of travelling. DD has been on one cruise (Disney) when she worked at Disney for a year in Epcot in the Canadian pavillion there.One of the perks at the time was a substantial cruise discount.She enjoyed it but she is not inclined to cruise again. Too confining,they both say.

[wallie5446]

I am 62, the wifester is 59, we took our first cruise in 1987, Celebrity first in 1994, have tried 7 diff cruise lines. We feel that we are Celebrity's target market. Just off the Equinox for the second time, the wifester said it was our best cruise ever.

 

They have 12,000 more beds to fill weekly in the pipe line. Looks like something is going right.

[20pluscruises]

true....and as long as Celebrity can find over 800,000 of them to fill the cabins of their ships each year, they will do well. Of course all of those aren't the high priced suites....but on the less expensive cabins, they still have to compete with many other cruise lines. It's never good to alienate your past customers...and alas, Lisa and her predecessor have done just that and some, if not many are now at least looking at other lines rather than just booking Celebrity.....that includes us.

 

It's not just the big things....actually the change that had us start looking elsewhere was the water in aqua.....if Celebrity can be that cheap....what's next.

 

What's next?....the food in Blu has been downgraded. We just returned and it is much different than the same cruise last August. Sad really.

[CABINET]

I am now approaching 60 and my OH 65.

 

I have to say that a few years back my OH and I weren't attracted to cruising at all believing it to be for people much older than us.

 

We cruised for the first time in our early 40's because some other members of our family were going on a cruise (they do not like to fly) and invited us to join them.

 

We enjoyed it more than we thought we would but still only cruise rarely and then probably mainly because I won't fly.

 

In all honesty I think of cruising frequently as something we will do when we get too old for my OH to drive us to Spain or Italy as, living in the UK, we do appreciate the better weather.

 

We don't have children ourselves but when we hear about the sort of holidays younger friends and children of our contemporaries are taking they are far more interested in visiting places far away from the UK and travelling while there (South America seems to be a popular destination). I would wager that a cruise would never be of interest to them at this time or in the near future.

 

I do understand that the cruise lines will have to attract a younger demographic as the older cruisers fall away but to me that means trying to attract 50 and 60 year olds not people in their 30's.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I think a HUGE problem for X and RCL is their website. Most adults today are used to searching the web to get information for travel plans [and most other things]. They are not user friendly. It is very difficult to really compare the cost vs increased benefit for the various cabin types. They are turned off when they click on a cabin type with a given price and it goes up on the next screen.

 

Sometimes perks are woven into the cost of a cruise and passengers do not want them.

 

The websites are glitchy and not very user friendly. [i feel the X site is better than RCL--less gimmick "sales"]

 

Some positive steps X has taken is the end of formal night and the addition of overnight stays in various ports.

[boscobeans]

I would bet the ranch that Celebrity has done extensive research on demographics and spending.

 

Us older demographic group is NOT growing, so any company has to have an eye to the next group(s) coming up.

 

 

And this group will mature into our age group in a few years. Does Celebrity think that twerking to Miley Cyrus or attempting to dance to some rapper will be what the future cruisers whose tastes may mature will be in the market for?

 

Just an opinion

 

bosco

[wallie5446]

And this group will mature into our age group in a few years. Does Celebrity think that twerking to Miley Cyrus or attempting to dance to some rapper will be what the future cruisers whose tastes may mature will be in the market for?

 

Just an opinion

 

bosco

 

My Parents thought I was out of my mind trying to twist like Chubby and Elvis! Let alone hop around to the music of some group from England named after an insect!

 

My 40 & 35 yrs old's tell me, "Dad, that aint dancing" :D

 

So we are getting to look into the future just as our parents did with us, and don't like what we see, just like they didn't.

EW

[north29]

It is creating a modern atmosphere on their cruise ships. and it was needed badly IMHO. I love the Evening Chic requested dress code it has made my cruise experience better. I do dress up, a little, even a jacket, well depends on the cruise, but I think maybe more modern, at least I do not look like I'm at a old style funeral and my so called dressier clothes look good everywhere except at a FORMAL event, of which I never attended, even when invited did not go........

 

We are in our late 60's and early 70's so age has nothing to do with it.

 

Having said that X and other cruise lines like HAL need to enforce just basic attire like long pants and a collard shirt of any style, and maybe a foot covering of sorts LOL. NO shorts, LOL what about short dresses, which make you look and wonder. Men are easy, women are hard to say what is basic LOL.

[blizzardboy]

We're loyal X cruisers (1500+ CC points) and were on the "race to Zenith", tying to book as many long night cruises in top level suites. X introduced the Suite Program and we were excited. Then the bottom fell out, and it became clear that Lisa Lutoff-Perlow was moving Celebrity in a new direction: try to attract younger customers to cruising. Hook them in now and they will be with you for life.

 

Here's the problem: they don't have money (they are in student debt up to their ass) and what they do have they are NOT going to spend it on a cruise.

 

In the meantime you have alienated your loyal cruisers, who don't care about "Evening Chic" and all the nonsense that comes with it. Celebrity isn't RCCL. If we wanted that we would have stayed with RCCL.

 

So Lisa. Good luck to you and what you are trying to do. Watch your repeat business tank as Oceania, Seabourn and other lines pick up the loyal guests you ignored by trying to appeal to hipsters.

 

Hopefully Richard Fain will have the sense to realize how you have destroyed the brand and bring someone in to fix it. Until then, sayonara.

If you want to get their attention, you should copy and paste this into the comment section on the Celebrity Facebook page. I don't know how closely, if at all, they monitor CC, but I know they monitor Facebook.

[shipshape sam]

And this group will mature into our age group in a few years. Does Celebrity think that twerking to Miley Cyrus or attempting to dance to some rapper will be what the future cruisers whose tastes may mature will be in the market for?

 

Just an opinion

 

bosco

 

LOL. Not sure if they do.

 

I do know that my Mom used to shop at Lerners (a retail ladies store) Had not shopped there for many years as she had moved and when visiting me, I took her to one and Lerners was serving the next generation, not my Mom's.

 

You will have to ask future cruisers. Someone mentioned, that as we age, our tastes change. I would agree that is the case for everyone. I still like rock music and so do my kids who listen to it. I also like a lot of their music as just one example.

[boscobeans]

LOL. Not sure if they do.

 

I do know that my Mom used to shop at Lerners (a retail ladies store) Had not shopped there for many years as she had moved and when visiting me, I took her to one and Lerners was serving the next generation, not my Mom's.

 

You will have to ask future cruisers. Someone mentioned, that as we age, our tastes change. I would agree that is the case for everyone. I still like rock music and so do my kids who listen to it. I also like a lot of their music as just one example.

 

I grew up with Chuck Berry and then the Rolling Stones, wore faded and torn jeans and madras shirts while eating Blimpies or burgers. I still listen to the music, however I learned to like Brussel Sprouts, pâté de foie gras, escargot, wear slacks and jackets and even though I will still grab something at Mickey D's I prefer some of the finer fare if I can. I imagine everyone, just like wine, matures in a different way. LOL

 

bosco

[cruisin lady ca]

As someone in her mid-30's, I find some of the disparaging remarks about people in my age bracket rather rude. There are a lot of different types of people in the age group and to clump us all together as one is ridiculous.

 

Yes, I am money conscious - I have to be as my salary is not as high as I would like and I live in a "high rent district". Yes, I have student loans, but I also made really smart moves to get them consolidated at a low interest rate. I also save my money and carefully budget and plan. Yes, I enjoy more adventurous vacations. However, that doesn't mean I don't also enjoy a Celebrity cruise. As a single person, my greatest challenge is finding someone to go with me due to so many preconceived notions. Some of the changes that X has been undergoing have helped me to convince one of my closest friends and best travel buddies to give X another try, so I am appreciative of that.

 

Truthfully, I would like to see X add more varied entertainment options such as more live music, more comedians, piano bars, and figuring out a way to get more people partying at night. I don't know all the answers, but what I do know is that in January my entire family is going on a cruise to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th birthday. Celebrity fits the bill for a group of us aged 1 to 90. No other cruise line fit all of our needs. Will I go searching for my adventure? Yes - jet skiing in Grand Cayman and look for something else in another island.

 

Life is about finding balances and Celebrity is trying to find theirs. In order to continue, they cannot rely solely on one demographic. They absolutely have to appeal to more than one age group.

 

Having done family cruises (Alaska and Caribbean) on Celebrity with my 90+ years young mother and 20-something sons, I agree with your observations. My DH and I enjoy Celebrity as do my sons. In fact, my oldest son and his girlfriend enjoyed our Caribbean cruise on Equinox so much they booked another Caribbean cruise in 2017.

 

We have only cruised on Celebrity and Princess so I can't compare Celebrity to all of the other cruise lines that folks talk about. My DH is happy that formal nights have morphed into chic nights as he isn't thrilled with dressing up. I am still planning to dress up and enjoy my time onboard a very classy ship when we board Reflection this fall.

[iSailor]

We're loyal X cruisers (1500+ CC points) and were on the "race to Zenith", tying to book as many long night cruises in top level suites. X introduced the Suite Program and we were excited. Then the bottom fell out, and it became clear that Lisa Lutoff-Perlow was moving Celebrity in a new direction: try to attract younger customers to cruising. Hook them in now and they will be with you for life.

 

Here's the problem: they don't have money (they are in student debt up to their ass) and what they do have they are NOT going to spend it on a cruise.

 

In the meantime you have alienated your loyal cruisers, who don't care about "Evening Chic" and all the nonsense that comes with it. Celebrity isn't RCCL. If we wanted that we would have stayed with RCCL.

 

So Lisa. Good luck to you and what you are trying to do. Watch your repeat business tank as Oceania, Seabourn and other lines pick up the loyal guests you ignored by trying to appeal to hipsters.

 

Hopefully Richard Fain will have the sense to realize how you have destroyed the brand and bring someone in to fix it. Until then, sayonara.

You must be Japanese なら

[cruisin lady ca]

What's next?....the food in Blu has been downgraded. We just returned and it is much different than the same cruise last August. Sad really.

 

How has the food in Blu been downgraded? Do you have any menus from Blu?

 

After reading about Aquaclass for years, I was so looking forward to enjoying Blu on our next cruise. Which ship were you on? Please share more details and menus, if you have them.

[Guest]

Well their tactics work for me.

 

I am 22, graduated from University last year, and Celebrity is my line of choice. I have sailed with Princess, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity, and out of the three i would choose X 9/10 times.

 

It does depend on itinerary. My boyfriend and i were discussing this the other day. If we are sailing Europe, the trip will be very port intensive. We dont need rock climbing and RCI bells and whistles if we will be off the ship 8/10 days. On an evening, a few drinks listening to a lounge band is enough, due to the busy days on shore!

 

However, in the Caribbean i feel either NCL or RCI would be more suited. More relaxed, more days at sea (generally) and therefore you would need more going on around you.

 

I like Celebrity because of the modern decor, attentive service and choice of food. I look at it this way- i wouldn't book a hotel because it has X, Y and Z amenities, i would book a hotel because of its location, its style and its reviews.

 

Thats my 2 cents. Im sure many would disagree!