What would make you stop cruising on Celebrity?

[D C]

What will make us jump ship?  This.  I have no reason to believe that a balcony on Celebrity is worth a 40% premium over Princess.  It's hello Princess for our cruising $$ at this point.   

[hubofhockey]

I have no loyalty to any cruise line, but love the M class ships on Celebrity which can do great itineraries because of their size and provide just about all of the benefits of bigger ships on most lines.  It's always a great value proposition for us.  That said, we love Azamara and look forward to an Oceania cruise.  We used to cruise Princess, but the food in both their dining rooms and specialty restaurants is not what I want on a vacation.  

[upwarduk]

4 minutes ago, hubofhockey said:

we love Azamara

A shame there isn’t a price comparison in the graph in post 76.

[phoenix_dream]

I love Celebrity and have been cruising on them for 30 years and many, many cruises.  What might make me jump ship?  Truthfully I am concerned about rumors of eliminating or seriously cutting back on the classics menu.  Sounds a bit silly in the scheme of things I know and yet to us it's not.  DH orders off that menu literally every single night.  We like to sail suites when we can afford it and honestly the Luminae menu leaves a lot to be desired in our minds so we often order classic especially salads or soups, as we do in Blu as well.  

 

We cruise for relaxation and a big part of our relaxation is the nice dinners at night.  If we can't find food that appeals to us on the Luminae or Blu menus and can no longer order classics (or sometimes off the MDR) then that honestly is a big issue for us.  Would it make us look elsewhere?  I can't truthfully say yet.  But at the very least it would make us reconsider.

[Bo1953]

On 1/5/2023 at 8:12 AM, TrueCruiseaholic said:

With all of the 2023 changes, Celebrity is giving some guests reason to bring their business elsewhere.

 

What could Celebrity do that would be a deal breaker for you?

 

My deal breaker would be the removal of the Captain's Club program. I actually like getting benefits for my loyalty. It costs Celebrity money, though. Think about how many free drinks Celebrity just gives away! Celebrity could save so much money!

A Cruise Critic only sailing...

 

bon voyage

[D C]

6 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

A shame there isn’t a price comparison in the graph in post 76.

They had no Caribbean sailings in the search results.   I was trying to do a popular location, popular duration, high season look.  7n Carib Jan-Mar

[terrydtx]

12 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

A Cruise Critic only sailing...

 

bon voyage

That would be one big gripe fest for sure!!

[foodsvcmgr]

Elimination of traditional fixed dining eliminates me as a customer.

[LGW59]

6 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

That would be one big gripe fest for sure!!

For sure, from all 12 of them

[hubofhockey]

19 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

A shame there isn’t a price comparison in the graph in post 76.

 

It's apples and oranges in comparing cruises on more inclusive lines like Azamara than it is on Celebrity.  If you are singularly cruising for itineraries and want overnights and more immersion in port cities, the value of Azamara to me gets bumped up exponentially.  For a generic Caribbean cruise, the value to us of a line like Azamara isn't there.  Each line has a time, place, and price.  Celebrity still is a nice fit for us for some itineraries.  The M class ships can still do some amazing itineraries as really good prices. 

[Pinboy]

11 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

A Cruise Critic only sailing...

 

bon voyage

LOL---- That's a " good one !!  The best post on this thread !!

Better than that " Joker " on post #11 !!!

To be serious--- We all have " needs'' and " wants " , so, all it comes down to is value for the $$$.

 

 

[terrydtx]

The reason there are so many cruise lines and ships are that there is not one line that meets 100% of the of the travel needs, expectations and requirements of 100% of the potential customers.  For us Celebrity may still meet our expectations but only on E Class ships and for some itineraries in Sky suites. We will and are looking beyond Celebrity to more premium lines for cruises as Celebrity seems content on raising Sky Suite prices higher and higher on E Class ships. It almost looks like people in Celebrity's marketing department think raising suites prices to "premium" pricing will make them a premium line. I know some will argue, but Celebrity is NOT a premium cruise line, just a more expensive mass marketed one.

[carolinagirlsince1993]

Cutting back on quality of food.  I like the small portions so I can enjoy appetizer, main and dessert.  Also nickel, diming me.  We do all included and upgrade to premium drink package.  It all comes down to daily cost for us.

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, foodsvcmgr said:

Elimination of traditional fixed dining eliminates me as a customer.

I'm curious why that is. My understanding is that even with anytime dining, the traditional fixed dining experience can be replicated with a brief conversation with the host/hostess.

[LGW59]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

The reason there are so many cruise lines and ships are that there is not one line that meets 100% of the of the travel needs, expectations and requirements of 100% of the potential customers.  For us Celebrity may still meet our expectations but only on E Class ships and for some itineraries in Sky suites. We will and are looking beyond Celebrity to more premium lines for cruises as Celebrity seems content on raising Sky Suite prices higher and higher on E Class ships. It almost looks like people in Celebrity's marketing department think raising suites prices to "premium" pricing will make them a premium line. I know some will argue, but Celebrity is NOT a premium cruise line, just a more expensive mass marketed one.

@terrydtx  As a person that cruises far more often than I do, I really enjoy reading (and learning from) your cruising perspective.  When I do cruise, I want it to be what to me is a "luxury" experience, a subjective term I realize, as it can be different for each of us.  However a few things I know, for me Carnival, Royal, NCL cannot provide a "luxury" vacation experience, yes I have sailed on each of them, though it has been quite a few years.  Not judging anyone who enjoys any of these lines, but I do not cruise to go to an amusement park, massive shopping malls (I can do these at home and I don't consider either a vacation) white night or big deck pool parties and all that goes with that.  Celebrity definitely meets my ideal of a more refined vacation and yes "luxury" to me.  My recent TA on Edge was a fantastic experience in every way and when the price is right for me, I will definitely cruise with them again if they have an itinerary I am interested in to go with the price I am willing to pay.  While I have not sailed with Oceania yet, though I will be in May 2023, I know that they will provide my style of "luxury" and for this cruise it met the price I am comfortable with that Celebrity could not (by a LONG shot) for a Med. itinerary that both my husband and me are very excited about, which includes several ports that Celebrity does not go to.  So in this instance, it is a big win-win for us.  Will I sail Celebrity again, very highly likely, but I will also continue to value shop them along with Oceania, Azamara and most likely Viking Ocean.  At this point in time, any cruise I have looked at for late 2023/early 2024 on Celebrity itineraries, thus far all of the aforementioned lines are providing better value for my "luxury" dollars.  I'll be anxious to hear your thoughts after your O cruise, as I will share mine here in May.  Cheers!

[terrydtx]

35 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

@terrydtx  As a person that cruises far more often than I do, I really enjoy reading (and learning from) your cruising perspective.  When I do cruise, I want it to be what to me is a "luxury" experience, a subjective term I realize, as it can be different for each of us.  However a few things I know, for me Carnival, Royal, NCL cannot provide a "luxury" vacation experience, yes I have sailed on each of them, though it has been quite a few years.  Not judging anyone who enjoys any of these lines, but I do not cruise to go to an amusement park, massive shopping malls (I can do these at home and I don't consider either a vacation) white night or big deck pool parties and all that goes with that.  Celebrity definitely meets my ideal of a more refined vacation and yes "luxury" to me.  My recent TA on Edge was a fantastic experience in every way and when the price is right for me, I will definitely cruise with them again if they have an itinerary I am interested in to go with the price I am willing to pay.  While I have not sailed with Oceania yet, though I will be in May 2023, I know that they will provide my style of "luxury" and for this cruise it met the price I am comfortable with that Celebrity could not (by a LONG shot) for a Med. itinerary that both my husband and me are very excited about, which includes several ports that Celebrity does not go to.  So in this instance, it is a big win-win for us.  Will I sail Celebrity again, very highly likely, but I will also continue to value shop them along with Oceania, Azamara and most likely Viking Ocean.  At this point in time, any cruise I have looked at for late 2023/early 2024 on Celebrity itineraries, thus far all of the aforementioned lines are providing better value for my "luxury" dollars.  I'll be anxious to hear your thoughts after your O cruise, as I will share mine here in May.  Cheers!

We are looking at a Boston to Montreal cruise in September 2024. Celebrity is only doing round trip 11-day cruises from Boston and a Sky Suite cost is about the same as Oceania cruise from Boston for 11 days that ends in Montreal in a A2 concierge level cabin. The Celebrity cruise only has 5 port stops in 11 days while the Oceania has 11 ports in 11 days. We will most likely be booking the Oceania cruise in a month or so.  In this case Oceania will be going to 6 more ports that Celebrity doesn't do. We are waiting for Viking to release their 2024 New England cruises to compare them too. 

 

We will not change or cancel our Apex cruise this year or our Edge cruises in 2024 since we got great pricing in Sky Suites on both. If we were booking either of them today, the current pricing, would definitely be driving us to Viking Ocean or Oceania.

 

I will be looking for your comments on your May Oceania cruise, as it seems like we both have the same luxury tastes in cruising.

Edited January 6, 2023 by terrydtx

[prmssk]

28 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I'm curious why that is. My understanding is that even with anytime dining, the traditional fixed dining experience can be replicated with a brief conversation with the host/hostess.

I realize I'm not the one you were replying to but traditional dining definitely is important to me (although I sometimes end up with anytime).  

 

Princess is still struggling to replicate the experience for those who want traditional dining after switching to all anytime dining since at least the beginning of the restart (I can't recall if it was in place pre-pandemic).  Sure a good Maitre'D in a dining room on specific ships has made it work fairly well but average and poor Maitre'Ds have just made dining a mess.  I'm not convinced a cruise line can consistently replicate traditional dining on any large scale once they switch to an all anytime dining model.

[RichYak]

41 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Not judging anyone who enjoys any of these lines, but I do not cruise to go to an amusement park, massive shopping malls (I can do these at home and I don't consider either a vacation) white night or big deck pool parties and all that goes with that.

I'm the last guy to defend Carnival, but having similar trepidations prior to sailing with them in the Med last year, I can tell you that I came across none of the above. It was an older ship and a fairly port intensive cruise to be sure, but we enjoyed it. I don't really care for Carnival's decor, but the food was fine, some of it actually very very good. We'll miss the nightly comedy shows, Guy's burgers, and the burritos next time we sail X.

 

Like you, I'm straying from X, looking for something more for my money, but for the right price on the right itinerary, I'd sail Carnival again.

[bigbenboys]

12 hours ago, redjetz said:

understood, but there are many land/resort vacations that offer as much or more value. The cruise lines should pause a bit because many of us will stop patronizing them if they continue to treat us so disrespectfully and just do land resorts. The BS factor on cruises is getting too high.

We will be doing our 1st all-inclusive resort in Playacar, Mexico later this month. It has nothing to do with Celebrity and the recent changes. We are meeting up with friends from England. We met them on a cruise in 2016.

[foodsvcmgr]

Rich yak as prmssk says in theory traditional dining “might” be replicated, but I’d prefer the real deal.

I have zero interest in begging a MD, trying to battle a poorly functioning app, carrying a buzzer or waiting to eat.

[mnocket]

Seems every time I'm thinking about selling my stock a thread like this comes out and reassures me that Celebrity and other cruise lines can continue to reduce costs without risking losing many customers.  Good for me as a stockholder - bad for me as a cruiser. 

[mac66]

We were fans of X and did 3 X cruises in 2022 which were makeups from the covid years. One was  7 nighter, two were 12 nights.

 

Service and food on all three were noticeable worse than in the pre covid years i.e, 2019. In addition had we not booked those cruises in 2019 we probably would not been able to go due to the  price increase. 

 

So, food, service and price are factors.

 

We did book a cheap 8 night RCI cruise for in late Nov early Dec '22  and the food and service was much better than X. 

 

Looking at 2023 X prices are very high. We've already booked at least one RCI cruise this year. I don't see us going back to X any time soon.