No more Abu dhabi for Celebrity cruises?

[lettuce_cruise7]

Hello everyone

I was checking itineraries and I realized that Celebrity is not going as often as it used to, to Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong kong and also will not go to the Middle East in 2021.

How come?
What's the reason for this? Who is taking these new routes? Is there any of the new ships taking over these magnificent places?

I will appreciate any answer 
Thank you folks

[omeinv]

The Constellation was onthe India/Middle East runs, and it's moving to Tampa, Florida. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

[lettuce_cruise7]

I know, that's why l am asking if is there any other Celebrity ship taking over that destination.

And why is not going to Vietnam as she did the last year... 

:(

[NantahalaCruiser]

Celebrity has not yet released itineraries beyond April 2021, so how can you say they are not going to those places in 2021?

[jelayne]

The Eclipse had the revolution moved back to 2021 and added cruises to Vietnam & Thailand.  

[lettuce_cruise7]

I though Celebrity Eclipse was going to Australia and New Zealand in 2021.

Wow, that's good to know ☺️

[jelayne]

They are but the revolution was scheduled to begin on 10/27/20.   It it was moved to 2021. Now the Eclipse goes from Singapore to to Sydney on 11/24 then on 2/20/20 goes from Melbourne  to Singapore where it will get revolutionized and do another cruise of Vietnam & Taiwan  before the TP to Vancouver. 

[Cirdan]

Yeah, also this winter Constellation will do just Dubai. Dubai to Abu Dhabi is in any case near, for a shore excursion. Dubai is also more convenient for flight (I flew to Dubai and went with taxi to Abu Dhabi for embarkation, last winter)

 

I think there were not much demand, so also cheaper cruises.

 

 

[Hlitner]

Interesting comment about demand.   The Regal Princess is doing a 56 day itinerary (which can be done in shorter segments) from Southampton to Sydney.....next October.  The cruise goes to places like Aquba (for Petra), Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat (among other ports).  The cruise is selling very quickly (many categories are already sold out) so obviously there is a demand decent itineraries.  Why isn't Celebrity doing such things?  Have no idea..  On the other hand, we are quite content to avoid Celebrity and cruise other lines doing more interesting itineraries at decent prices.

 

Hank

[omeinv]

40 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Interesting comment about demand.   The Regal Princess is doing a 56 day itinerary (which can be done in shorter segments) from Southampton to Sydney.....next October.  The cruise goes to places like Aquba (for Petra), Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat (among other ports).  The cruise is selling very quickly (many categories are already sold out) so obviously there is a demand decent itineraries.  Why isn't Celebrity doing such things?  Have no idea..  On the other hand, we are quite content to avoid Celebrity and cruise other lines doing more interesting itineraries at decent prices.

 

Hank

The other side of "demand" is always "supply".  Celebrity has relatively few ships, compared to other lines.  It only makes sense they don't just deploy where there is demand, but where they perceive the greatest demand.  The fact that Princess is filling a trip very well could be all the reason Celebrity would need to stay out. 

 

I've been cruising long enough to see lines seemingly abandon a market, only to have them all flood in, to meet the "pent-up demand", only to pull back out when the multitude of choices drives prices down for all lines. In fact I saw this cycle repeat at least twice in the Mexican Riviera. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

[debshomespun]

We are cruising NCL Jade in Feb/20 from Singapore, going to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur & Langkawi), Thailand (overnight), Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles ( overnight), Muscat (2 port stops) Abu Dhabi and ends in Dubai.  A fantastic itinerary with several bucket list ports.  Yes, we stray from Celebrity to see other parts of the World.  Variety is the spice of life. 

[villauk]

5 hours ago, debshomespun said:

We are cruising NCL Jade in Feb/20 from Singapore, going to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur & Langkawi), Thailand (overnight), Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles ( overnight), Muscat (2 port stops) Abu Dhabi and ends in Dubai.  A fantastic itinerary with several bucket list ports.  Yes, we stray from Celebrity to see other parts of the World.  Variety is the spice of life. 

 

 

Yes, it appears that it’s necessary to venture out to get more exciting itineraries. The redeployment of Connie back to Tampa was a definite hit to us. We’re still deciding now which way to go next year, but it’s looking unlikely to be X (even with the placeholders we have with them).

[upwarduk]

I wonder how much the trouble in the Gulf in July, influenced Celebrity’s decision to reposition Connie to Tampa.

[hcat]

We were happy to see a nice ship in Tampa. We booked right away and foresee sev future cruises possible from that port. Those flying in  will have an excellent airport.

 

Feel bad for those who were cancelled, re routed or denied  new ports, but X made the call. 

[Hlitner]

13 hours ago, omeinv said:

The other side of "demand" is always "supply".  Celebrity has relatively few ships, compared to other lines.  It only makes sense they don't just deploy where there is demand, but where they perceive the greatest demand.  The fact that Princess is filling a trip very well could be all the reason Celebrity would need to stay out. 

 

I've been cruising long enough to see lines seemingly abandon a market, only to have them all flood in, to meet the "pent-up demand", only to pull back out when the multitude of choices drives prices down for all lines. In fact I saw this cycle repeat at least twice in the Mexican Riviera. 

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

I am not sure you have this quite right :).  Celebrity seems to be all about maximizing passenger revenue/profit per cruise day.  Longer more exotic itineraries tend to attract older more seasoned travelers because of their greater cost in terms of air, cruise, etc.  These folks (we all into that category) tend to spend less money per day (onboard revenue) while on the cruise.  Go on a long cruise in Europe and you are likely to find the casino and barsrelatively empty after 10pm.  Put that same vessel in the Caribbean on a 7-10 day itinerary and the casino is likely to be very busy, bars are packed, etc.

 

What happened with the Mexican Riviera (we live in Puerto Vallarta for part of the year) is that Mexico got a lot of bad press which caused many cruisers to avoid those cruises.  But many folks who know Mexico (especially those that live within a few hours of the CA ports that serve as embarkation ports) love those cruises and were quick to snatch up the cruise berths when they were sold at a big discount.  Cruise lines were forced to charge lower prices to counter the adverse publicity of Mexican crime and their revenue dropped.  In addition, the State of California imposed low-Sulphur fuel emissions requirements (now extended nationwide) which increased the cost of operating in the California market.  And finally, the Longshoreman have previously caused "issues" on the West Coast which further added to costs.  So several cruise lines (including Celebrity and RCI) pulled out of that week to week market and repositioned more ships on the East Coast where they can get more revenue per passenger day and have an easier time filling berths.

 

It will be interesting to see if MSC eventually decides to base a ship on the West Coast and create some real competition for Carnival.  MSC is in the midst of a huge expansion program which is adding about 2 ships per year (many in the 4000+ passenger class) and those ships will need to go somewhere.  Unlike Celebrity, MSC allows smoking in its Casinos and provides more of a party atmosphere.  

 

Hank

 

 

[cruisestitch]

"Celebrity seems to be all about maximizing passenger revenue/profit per cruise day. "

 

What else would you have them do?  They are a corporation, not a charity.  

[Hlitner]

15 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

"Celebrity seems to be all about maximizing passenger revenue/profit per cruise day. "

 

What else would you have them do?  They are a corporation, not a charity.  

Also maximize quality!  That was the Celebrity we knew and loved from the days of the ole Meridian.  Now, it is about many cuts in onboard quality coupled with all kinds of price increases.   Provide a quality product and "they will come."  Reduce quality, raise prices, and then you must rely more on marketing to attract customers.  But eventually the marketing falls flat as folks wise-up and discover better alternatives in a very competitive travel market.

 

Hank

[cruisestitch]

All very true -- 

 

I hope it won't take seeing ships that no longer sail full for them to realize that they need to take a hard look at the product.