Stateroom free movies eliminated

[rimmit]

1 hour ago, ak1004 said:

The simple truth is that as long as the ships sail full, they couldn't care less, no matter how much you or me mobilize. At this point we have three cruises booked for 2020 and 2021, none of them on Celebrity. Celebrity reached a point where increasing prices and decreasing quality make the price difference between Celebrity and Oceania so small and the quality gap so big that it makes no sense for us to book Celebrity.

 

 

How do you like Oceania?  How are they with kids?  Just like to hear an honest opinion.  We are currently not brand loyal (used to be primarily RCI but due to it cutbacks that has changed).  Really enjoy X but the recent cutbacks make me weary of X becoming the next RCI.

[Nymich]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

There's no need for a personal attack simply because @ak1004 expresses an opinion with which you disagree. 

Fair enough.  My bad.  If I could pull that one back I would.

[ak1004]

3 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

How do you like Oceania?  How are they with kids?  Just like to hear an honest opinion.  We are currently not brand loyal (used to be primarily RCI but due to it cutbacks that has changed).  Really enjoy X but the recent cutbacks make me weary of X becoming the next RCI.

 

We like it very much. A different league. But I'm not so sure about kids. I don't think Oceania is kids oriented.

[villauk]

5 hours ago, rimmit said:

We are currently not brand loyal (used to be primarily RCI but due to it cutbacks that has changed).  Really enjoy X but the recent cutbacks make me weary of X becoming the next RCI.

 

 

Don’t think you are on your own. I know we wouldn’t have considered looking elsewhere a few years ago, then the cutbacks started and prices in Europe were ridiculous. Result: we started to look at other options. Still have Royal and X placeholders but not booked anything yet for next year. Just when we found an exciting itinerary, X decided to move the ship back to the Caribbean instead (second time this has happened to us). 

[The_Big_M]

12 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

It is still one total budget, and they still need to prioritize.

 

No, individual decisions within division budgets do not sway decisions in other divisions.

[The_Big_M]

12 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

I have a negative attitude because I disagree with your opinion?

 

Cruise critic represents very small part of total number of cruisers. Definitely not representative.

 

So you believe there were even more complaints from non-Cruise Critic users, that caused them to reverse decision?

 

Apparently our views were representative as they enabled the decision to be reversed.

[twodjs]

12 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

 

So you believe there were even more complaints from non-Cruise Critic users, that caused them to reverse decision?

 

Apparently our views were representative as they enabled the decision to be reversed.

Since the subject of no more free cruises was not announced in the media by Celebrity, the only way someone would have known is through CruisCritic or facebook or if you were on a cruise in early September. And information can  be shared faster in CC than on the ships. Based on fhe number of views on CruiseCritic and facebook and the proactive response by many here, we WERE the groundswell that forced their hand. 

[Nymich]

4 minutes ago, twodjs said:

Since the subject of no more free cruises was not announced in the media by Celebrity, the only way someone would have known is through CruisCritic or facebook or if you were on a cruise in early September. And information can  be shared faster in CC than on the ships. Based on fhe number of views on CruiseCritic and facebook and the proactive response by many here, we WERE the groundswell that forced their hand. 

You were a big part of that!  You were posting calling, writing and pasting lol.  Lots of great effort here by the CC community. Nobody even reported in the news about the movies until CC did an article days after we were already pounding away.  I noticed msn.com on Sept 16th had an article saying the movies were gone.  Fact is we exposed what X had done on Sept. 8th and by the 16th free movies were back!   I have not seen anything reporting this before Sept 8th.   Those who followed on social media obviously made a HUGE difference by spreading it to more people and probably embarrassing X but I have been looking and it's just a freak thing that we started it. 

 

[rimmit]

Hands down the most vocal people (biggest thorn in the side) are the CC community.  We all have cruised enough to “know the difference” when they cut back and they hate that.  We hold them accountable for change.  They love the infrequent cruisers.  The ones that barely notice the change.  The ones that think “we’ll its almost as good as last time,  so that’s fine.”  CC keeps them honest.

 

The CC community has a large clout with the cruise lines.  If we were truly nothing LLP wouldn’t waste her time with a q&a.

 

I, for one, the moment I stumbled on this thread, emailed, called, and had my wife do the same and then messaged everyone I knew that cruised celebrity and recruited them to do the same as I am just tired of the endless cutbacks and we just started cruising on X again and the moment we resigned up on some X cruises we hit a cutback that we really enjoyed.  

 

While this effort was not all CC,  the ground troops (random guests) going to guest relations definitely had a huge part.  I am sure the grumblings from the passengers was not small.  However, Being on a ship they would be less likely to email or call.  The calling and emailing was largely by, CC as the logistics of calling and emailing on vacation on a cruise ship are more complex.  Being on land in our home country makes it notably easier to organize that effort.  

[Marelaine]

Our meet and greet was well attended by officers, including the Master, cruise director, hotel director, chefs etc.... I believe it was the hotel director that told us that he monitors Cruise Critic. He asked that we speak to him during the cruise, if we weren't satisfied, so that he could make it right, rather than post negative comments on CC after the cruise. Maybe it was just PR, but he seemed sincere. This isn't the first time that Celebrity reversed decisions that seemed to be based on comments made here. Remember when they started charging for burgers at the Mast Grill? We may be a small fraction of passengers who cruise Celebrity, but I do think our opinions count.

[Gracie115]

6 minutes ago, Marelaine said:

Our meet and greet was well attended by officers, including the Master, cruise director, hotel director, chefs etc.... I believe it was the hotel director that told us that he monitors Cruise Critic. He asked that we speak to him during the cruise, if we weren't satisfied, so that he could make it right, rather than post negative comments on CC after the cruise. Maybe it was just PR, but he seemed sincere. This isn't the first time that Celebrity reversed decisions that seemed to be based on comments made here. Remember when they started charging for burgers at the Mast Grill? We may be a small fraction of passengers who cruise Celebrity, but I do think our opinions count.

 

 

On our TA in April on the Silhouette we had several officers attend also.  We had well over 150 people present at the Meet & Greet.  The Hotel Director stated that he "lurked" on Cruise Critic every day though he didn't post.  He also said to please let him know about issues on board.  I have no doubt that someone monitors these boards, they may be a small portion of the total passengers but they are a great sampling of people from all over the world.  It would be foolish of them to pay no attention, social media can do great harm or great good.  

 

I'm glad to hear they returned the free movies, I hope it's more than 5, we were spoiled by the wide selection that Princess offers in this regard.  If they can do it I would think Celebrity could too without breaking the bank.

[MamaFej]

We had a similar experience on our cruise from Santiago to San Diego in March. Our CCRC had over 6000 posts before we set sail. Our Meet and Greet was packed, with many officers in attendance. The Captain announced that Cruise Critic was the first group welcomed on board and that they take our feedback seriously. The Hotel Director also asked us to come to him. I did mention that our cabin phone was dirty and the cabin overall was less clean than we were used to. I said it wasn't a huge deal, but it was noticeable. He was almost immediately on the radio to someone.

When we went back to our cabin, it was being cleaned. No big deal, we just went to the library. However, they kept cleaning until almost 11pm. Hubby likes to go to bed around 9. I don't know what the heck they were doing, as it was just a bit dusty in a few places. The next day, the head housekeeper came to talk to us. Again, we reiterated that it was no big deal, we'd just hoped for a bit more attention to detail. Then a bottle of wine appeared, compliments of the Hotel Director. Yeesh! This was definitely overkill! Then our steward mentioned that he hoped he wouldn't get bad comments on the survey. It made me feel like we shouldn't ever mention anything slightly negative again.

 

Our Celebrity cruise in 2014, was also our first cruise in 23 years, and was before I'd discovered CC, we had a terrible sewage smell from next door, and one day, we had no water for many hours as they were working on it. I had just worked out in the gym and was in desperate need of a shower before dinner. Of course, the locker room was closed. Thankfully, our kids were onboard in another cabin and I used their shower. We got water back, but the odor was nearly intolerable the last night of the cruise. It never occurred to me to complain. I wish I had now. I imagine there would have been some sort of compensation. I suppose if I hadn't been able to use my kids' shower, I might have gone to Guest Relations and asked if there was an empty cabin I could shower in.

 

If I'd been on CC back then, I imagine it would have occurred to me to be more assertive. 

[Nymich]

3 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

 

I, for one, the moment I stumbled on this thread, emailed, called, and had my wife do the same and then messaged everyone I knew that cruised celebrity and recruited them to do the same as I am just tired of the endless cutbacks and we just started cruising on X again and the moment we resigned up on some X cruises we hit a cutback that we really enjoyed.  

 

This is HUGE.  Efforts like this really caught X by surprise.  The way they did it was sneaky though and just not right and I am glad we caught them and came back strong!  

 

[Marelaine]

8 hours ago, MamaFej said:

We had a similar experience on our cruise from Santiago to San Diego in March. Our CCRC had over 6000 posts before we set sail. Our Meet and Greet was packed, with many officers in attendance. The Captain announced that Cruise Critic was the first group welcomed on board and that they take our feedback seriously. The Hotel Director also asked us to come to him. I did mention that our cabin phone was dirty and the cabin overall was less clean than we were used to. I said it wasn't a huge deal, but it was noticeable. He was almost immediately on the radio to someone.

When we went back to our cabin, it was being cleaned. No big deal, we just went to the library. However, they kept cleaning until almost 11pm. Hubby likes to go to bed around 9. I don't know what the heck they were doing, as it was just a bit dusty in a few places. The next day, the head housekeeper came to talk to us. Again, we reiterated that it was no big deal, we'd just hoped for a bit more attention to detail. Then a bottle of wine appeared, compliments of the Hotel Director. Yeesh! This was definitely overkill! Then our steward mentioned that he hoped he wouldn't get bad comments on the survey. It made me feel like we shouldn't ever mention anything slightly negative again.

 

Our Celebrity cruise in 2014, was also our first cruise in 23 years, and was before I'd discovered CC, we had a terrible sewage smell from next door, and one day, we had no water for many hours as they were working on it. I had just worked out in the gym and was in desperate need of a shower before dinner. Of course, the locker room was closed. Thankfully, our kids were onboard in another cabin and I used their shower. We got water back, but the odor was nearly intolerable the last night of the cruise. It never occurred to me to complain. I wish I had now. I imagine there would have been some sort of compensation. I suppose if I hadn't been able to use my kids' shower, I might have gone to Guest Relations and asked if there was an empty cabin I could shower in.

 

If I'd been on CC back then, I imagine it would have occurred to me to be more assertive. 

 

I know exactly what you mean. One evening, I didn't eat the Steak Diane because it was flavorless and overdone. The waiter offered to bring something else, but I wasn't very hungry, and ate 2 desserts, instead 🙂

The next evening the supervisor of our section of the dining room stopped by to apologize for the steak. She asked if we would be willing to talk to one of the chefs after dinner. I told him that the quality of the steaks was not very good, they were so thin that it would be difficult to cook them medium rare. I also mentioned that I would love an American style chef salad one night for dinner - a break from the red meat and some much needed veggies. The next evening a huge, beautiful chef's salad arrived at the table. And the supervisor returned after dinner to make sure I loved my salad. The waiter, after that, encouraged me to order 2 entrees every night. On beef Wellington night, he also delivered an orange duckling, moist and tender with crispy skin. He said it was his responsibility to make sure I enjoyed my meal. As much as I enjoyed that salad, I felt guilty for returning the steak. 

Edited September 19, 2019 by Marelaine

[Oville]

17 minutes ago, Marelaine said:

 

I know exactly what you mean. One evening, I didn't eat the Steak Diane because it was flavorless and overdone. The waiter offered to bring something else, but I wasn't very hungry, and ate 2 desserts, instead 🙂

The next evening the supervisor of our section of the dining room stopped by to apologize for the steak. She asked if we would be willing to talk to one of the chefs after dinner. I told him that the quality of the steaks was not very good, they were so thin that it would be difficult to cook them medium rare. I also mentioned that I would love an American style chef salad one night for dinner - a break from the red meat and some much needed veggies. The next evening a huge, beautiful chef's salad arrived at the table. And the supervisor returned after dinner to make sure I loved my salad. The waiter, after that, encouraged me to order 2 entrees every night. On beef Wellington night, he also delivered an orange duckling, moist and tender with crispy skin. He said it was his responsibility to make sure I enjoyed my meal. As much as I enjoyed that salad, I felt guilty for returning the steak. 

Was this an in room movie? 😉😀

[Katyoparty]

I haven't read this entire thread but I am currently on board Solstice and we currently have 10 free movies available on demand. At the start of the cruise we had one but passengers voiced their displeasure and selections changed over night. 

[Gracie115]

3 hours ago, Katyoparty said:

I haven't read this entire thread but I am currently on board Solstice and we currently have 10 free movies available on demand. At the start of the cruise we had one but passengers voiced their displeasure and selections changed over night. 

 

 

Yeah!!!😃

[Pennstatedj]

Yeah, Movies are back. 

Thanks to all who voiced their opinion. I believe X always listens whether hear on CC or onboard. They do not always change but they listen and sometime change. That is what hooked us on X. Before that we were Princess was our favorite cruise line. 

Thanks X. 

[vtcruising]

This Cruise Critic article makes it clear that Cruise Critic members were an important part of their decision to reinstate the movies - nice work everyone!

 

"September 18, 2019

(10:53 a.m. EDT) -- After pushback from passengers, Celebrity Cruises has reversed its decision to pull free in-cabin movies. According to a spokesperson for the line: "After careful consideration of guest feedback and from our friends on the Cruise Critic forums, we have decided to reinstate the complimentary in-stateroom entertainment. We will continue to offer a wide selection of the new releases and iconic films in our theaters, outdoor screens and in the guest staterooms using the On-Demand TV system."

 

(September 13, 2019, 4 p.m. EDT) -- Following intense discussion on Cruise Critic's message boards, Celebrity Cruises has confirmed that it has pulled the plug on complimentary in-room movies.

 

A Celebrity spokesperson told Cruise Critic, "At this time, we're no longer offering free in-stateroom movies. We will continue to offer a wide selection of the new releases and iconic films in our theaters, outdoor screens and in the guest staterooms using the on-demand TV system."

 

Member Nymich posted about the change on Sunday, noting that complimentary movies had been removed from the system during a recent voyage aboard Celebrity Eclipse. "We were on Equinox last week, and when we got on, we noticed only five free movies, and all others were \$14.99. We checked again midweek, and they were all gone. Called Guest Relations, and they said broadcasting department said that the contract had ended and they would not be offering free movies in the cabins anymore, fleetwide."
 

Member cruisestitch notes that there were "No free on-demand movies on Reflection as of now, 9/2019."

While many readers lamented the removal of complimentary movies and noted that other lines continue to offer them, some are less bothered by the change.

 

Member PTC DAWG noted, "Doesn't bother me at all.... I don't cruise to watch TV."

 

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4456/

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by vtcruising

[Nymich]

2 hours ago, vtcruising said:

This Cruise Critic article makes it clear that Cruise Critic members were an important part of their decision to reinstate the movies - nice work everyone!

 

"September 18, 2019

(10:53 a.m. EDT) -- After pushback from passengers, Celebrity Cruises has reversed its decision to pull free in-cabin movies. According to a spokesperson for the line: "After careful consideration of guest feedback and from our friends on the Cruise Critic forums, we have decided to reinstate the complimentary in-stateroom entertainment. We will continue to offer a wide selection of the new releases and iconic films in our theaters, outdoor screens and in the guest staterooms using the On-Demand TV system."

 

(September 13, 2019, 4 p.m. EDT) -- Following intense discussion on Cruise Critic's message boards, Celebrity Cruises has confirmed that it has pulled the plug on complimentary in-room movies.

 

A Celebrity spokesperson told Cruise Critic, "At this time, we're no longer offering free in-stateroom movies. We will continue to offer a wide selection of the new releases and iconic films in our theaters, outdoor screens and in the guest staterooms using the on-demand TV system."

 

Member Nymich posted about the change on Sunday, noting that complimentary movies had been removed from the system during a recent voyage aboard Celebrity Eclipse. "We were on Equinox last week, and when we got on, we noticed only five free movies, and all others were \$14.99. We checked again midweek, and they were all gone. Called Guest Relations, and they said broadcasting department said that the contract had ended and they would not be offering free movies in the cabins anymore, fleetwide."
 

Member cruisestitch notes that there were "No free on-demand movies on Reflection as of now, 9/2019."

While many readers lamented the removal of complimentary movies and noted that other lines continue to offer them, some are less bothered by the change.

 

Member PTC DAWG noted, "Doesn't bother me at all.... I don't cruise to watch TV."

 

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4456/

What's amazing is we got the FREE movies turned on in 8 days from when we first exposed X for doing this.

Now people are asking what about this and why don't we change that.   I think you have to move fast like we did and you have to have MANY people who are willing to call, write,post,tweet etc......

This was the FIRST thread on removing the FREE movies on the "cruise critic message boards" and WE created the energy and it is nice to see Celebrity recognize this.

 

 

Edited September 19, 2019 by Nymich

[rimmit]

What also made this a potential reversible decision was the ease of reversal.  In the case of the foot stools,  the logistics of putting them back, rebuying them if they are not stored is very large.  Buying several  thousand footstools is not an easy task.  

 

Renewing the media rights and changing the settings in the media center of the ship to allow free movies is much easier.  In the same way that in 2018 when RCI removed the free internet coupon,  It was an easy fix to place back the coupon.  This also clearly did not affect their bottom line enough for them to fight over it.  Room service fees....  that’s a whole other class Of issue. That thread was over 100 pages long and thousands and thousands called RCI out over it, as it was an IMMEDIATE change effective the day they announced.  It was still being advertised on the website as free room service for weeks after the change. Complete false advertising.  But ultimately the most they would give was $25 OBC if you were already past final payment.  The logistics of room service was much larger than that of on demand movies.  The day X gets rid of free room service will 100 percent be my line in the sand in the way it was that way for RCI for us.

[CulverCityCruisers]

Anyone currently onboard know if they updated the movies to be newer??  Maybe list a few that are showing now??  Last month on Equinox the movies were decades old other than the latest Dumbo movie

[Nymich]

11 minutes ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

Anyone currently onboard know if they updated the movies to be newer??  Maybe list a few that are showing now??  Last month on Equinox the movies were decades old other than the latest Dumbo movie

Someone on Silhouette reported these movies:

Holmes and Watson

On the basis of Sex

Vice

Apollo 11

Captain Marvel

Hotel Mumbai

Dumbo

Long Shot

Us

 

Which brings me to an important point.  I hope people who get onboard keep an eye on the FREE movies as X had already sliced them down to 5 when we were on Equinox on two weeks ago.  X has already shown that like to just do stuff and see it they get any reaction.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Nymich

[CulverCityCruisers]

4 hours ago, Nymich said:

Someone on Silhouette reported these movies:

Holmes and Watson

On the basis of Sex

Vice

Apollo 11

Captain Marvel

Hotel Mumbai

Dumbo

Long Shot

Us

 

Which brings me to an important point.  I hope people who get onboard keep an eye on the FREE movies as X had already sliced them down to 5 when we were on Equinox on two weeks ago.  X has already shown that like to just do stuff and see it they get any reaction.

WOW, way better than Equinox 3 weeks ago.  It least they are newer!!

 

After the mes they created, I doubt they will cut them back to jut a selection of 5 and go through that again

[Nymich]

2 hours ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

WOW, way better than Equinox 3 weeks ago.  It least they are newer!!

 

After the mes they created, I doubt they will cut them back to jut a selection of 5 and go through that again

I really hope you are right but I just don't trust them to not circle back and hit this area again.  They had already cut it

down to 5 without anyone saying anything.  I hope I am wrong and they leave it alone.