To sum up

[cruisin from florida]

I've read a lot of the "sky is falling" and "you're overreacting" threads over the last month or so.

Here's what I've gleaned:

-Staffing shortages are impacting the cruise experience.

-Price pressure and supply chain issues are impacting food options and quality.

-There are charges for things that used to be complementary.

-Cruise prices are increasing.

These factors will drive some folks away from Celebrity and/or cruising. Others will accept the changes and make the most of their cruise until the final straw for them, which is very individual and subjective.

Celebrity and other lines will continue to try to strike a balance between returning to profitability/paying off debt and retaining their core identity and customer base.

 

Personally, I'm very interested in people's perceptions even/especially the negative, so that my expectations are appropriately set fo upcoming cruises.

 

I'll be on the Silhouette in a week and a half for a girls' trip. It will be my second Celebrity cruise (did Apex last February - it was wonderful!) and my friend's first X cruise. We usually cruise Royal, but liked the X product a lot. We've done about 5 cruises since the reopen. I'll post about our experiences, both the positives and negatives, in the hope that it will help others set their expectations as well.

 

Cheers!

 

[rmalbers]

I think you've summed it up real well.   The people, like me, that notice the most difference are the people that have sailed on X before.  If you had not sailed on X before Jan 1 you would not know what the differences are.  When the MDR chef was brought out and introduced to the various people at the tables and the people were asked about the food, everyone I heard commented on how great the food was and how happy they were, etc., I was surprised by it and didn't say anything about the 'menu changes', LOL!   I would add to your list:  new menus in the MDR.

Edited February 12, 2023 by rmalbers

[cruisin from florida]

I think even first time cruisers would have noticed the service issues in the MDR on our Oasis cruise in December. It was clearly understaffed, with orders taking forever and staff running around red-faced, no refills on water or bread, not bringing the littles their food quickly or even at the same time as the other diners, bar service not getting wine to the table in time to drink with main course (and the main course took ages.)

I'm hopeful that that is not the case on Silhouette. The rumors were that X and the new ships were being staffed before the older ships. Who knows. Didn't ruin our cruise. The Covid we all caught had a much bigger impact. Sigh.

If things go even moderately well, I'll be booking some future cruises onboard. We have a gap between this August and November of '24 that is begging to be filled!

[NutsAboutGolf]

In many cases, MSC's yacht club or a land based hotel stay w/free wifi is cheaper than X 

[cruisin from florida]

24 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

In many cases, MSC's yacht club or a land based hotel stay w/free wifi is cheaper than X 

Is Yacht Club what MSC calls their suites? They do have some very cool itineraries! 

[B_A_H]

59 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

-Staffing shortages are impacting the cruise experience.

-Price pressure and supply chain issues are impacting food options and quality.

-There are charges for things that used to be complementary.

-Cruise prices are increasing.

 

Those are things being faced across the tourism industry.   The third and fourth items should help mitigate the second and to some degree the first.  Celebrity is increasing prices, actively and passively, yet still (and consciously) reducing quality, quantity, variety, and to a degree service.

 

They are walking a fine line based on their self described position as a "premium" cruise line.  Too much cost cutting puts their premium-ness at risk.  I canceled a November sailing on Apex because I know the ship will be full which item one will impact and for the Celebrity cost premium item two was something I didn't want to take a chance on.

 

What Celebrity does next depends on how many people react the way I did and whether there's enough new blood to replace us. If people start canceling or booking away, which I'm sure they track, that will get their attention and potentially make them reconsider their race to the bottom.  Or, maybe it won't.  

[rmalbers]

41 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

I think even first time cruisers would have noticed the service issues in the MDR on our Oasis cruise in December. It was clearly understaffed, with orders taking forever and staff running around red-faced, no refills on water or bread, not bringing the littles their food quickly or even at the same time as the other diners, bar service not getting wine to the table in time to drink with main course (and the main course took ages.)

I'm hopeful that that is not the case on Silhouette. The rumors were that X and the new ships were being staffed before the older ships. Who knows. Didn't ruin our cruise. The Covid we all caught had a much bigger impact. Sigh.

If things go even moderately well, I'll be booking some future cruises onboard. We have a gap between this August and November of '24 that is begging to be filled!

Yes, I saw all that stuff in your first paragraph on EQ.  I really felt bad for the staff, if they moved any faster they would have been running.   It certainly is not their fault. 

[cruisin from florida]

7 minutes ago, B_A_H said:

Those are things being faced across the tourism industry.   The third and fourth items should help mitigate the second and to some degree the first.  Celebrity is increasing prices, actively and passively, yet still (and consciously) reducing quality, quantity, variety, and to a degree service.

 

They are walking a fine line based on their self described position as a "premium" cruise line.  Too much cost cutting puts their premium-ness at risk.  I canceled a November sailing on Apex because I know the ship will be full which item one will impact and for the Celebrity cost premium item two was something I didn't want to take a chance on.

 

What Celebrity does next depends on how many people react the way I did and whether there's enough new blood to replace us. If people start canceling or booking away, which I'm sure they track, that will get their attention and potentially make them reconsider their race to the bottom.  Or, maybe it won't.  

I think the rising prices may impact the "new blood." We started cruising in the '80s, and the comparison of land vacation vs. cruise made cruising a no-brainer. As those numbers get closer to each other, the number of new cruisers may decline.

[RichYak]

24 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

Is Yacht Club what MSC calls their suites? They do have some very cool itineraries! 

No. There are some suites outside of Yacht Club and there are some inside cabins within Yacht Club. It's a ship within a ship concept. Yacht Club is a restricted area of their ships that has its own pool deck, lounge, restaurant, butler service, and guest services. You can only access these if you are staying an a designated Yacht Club cabin. Most of these cabins are within the restricted YC area, some are outside of it but have easy access to it.

Edited February 12, 2023 by RichYak

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

1 hour ago, cruisin from florida said:

I've read a lot of the "sky is falling" and "you're overreacting" threads over the last month or so.

Here's what I've gleaned:

-Staffing shortages are impacting the cruise experience.

-Price pressure and supply chain issues are impacting food options and quality.

-There are charges for things that used to be complementary.

-Cruise prices are increasing.

These factors will drive some folks away from Celebrity and/or cruising. Others will accept the changes and make the most of their cruise until the final straw for them, which is very individual and subjective.

Celebrity and other lines will continue to try to strike a balance between returning to profitability/paying off debt and retaining their core identity and customer base.

 

Personally, I'm very interested in people's perceptions even/especially the negative, so that my expectations are appropriately set fo upcoming cruises.

 

I'll be on the Silhouette in a week and a half for a girls' trip. It will be my second Celebrity cruise (did Apex last February - it was wonderful!) and my friend's first X cruise. We usually cruise Royal, but liked the X product a lot. We've done about 5 cruises since the reopen. I'll post about our experiences, both the positives and negatives, in the hope that it will help others set their expectations as well.

 

Cheers!

 

IMO, ...

 

If you see the world as glass half empty, be prepared for disappointment all around you.

 

If you see the world as glass half full, your world is one of discovery and joy and you will love your cruise.

 

Good MOJO to all...

[cruisin from florida]

6 minutes ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

IMO, ...

 

If you see the world as glass half empty, be prepared for disappointment all around you.

 

If you see the world as glass half full, your world is one of discovery and joy and you will love your cruise.

 

Good MOJO to all...

I am the perpetual Susy Sunshine of our family, and generally enjoy all our travel and cruises, sometimes making lemonade out of lemons. That said, I also look for value (to me... extremely subjective calculation), and if the experience doesn't provide the value I'm looking for, I won't repeat it. We did one extremely inexpensive cruise, on a line I won't name, after the restart. It was what it was, and we had fun, but I won't be going back to that line. I'll pay more for a better experience. And if that's the calculation I've made, and I've paid more, and the experience isn't what I thought I was paying for (the issue, legit IMO, that folks are having with the current changes), I'll have a great time and use my vacation dollars differently in the future.

[bEwAbG]

50 minutes ago, B_A_H said:

Those are things being faced across the tourism industry.   The third and fourth items should help mitigate the second and to some degree the first.  Celebrity is increasing prices, actively and passively, yet still (and consciously) reducing quality, quantity, variety, and to a degree service.

 

Very good points.  I think those who are reacting negatively are doing it based on disappointment with not receiving what they received in the past PLUS paying more for the privilege.  The "but I want to see it for myself" types are welcome to do that, but I don't feel like I need to pay a lot of money to understand there's a problem based on the big uptick in recent negative reports.  The "any cruise is a good cruise" crowd are also welcome to that worldview, but if I can spend less and get the same experience elsewhere, why should I be loyal to a company that isn't loyal to its customers?  I don't appreciate being a guinea pig while X does drastic cutbacks and then tests the response on paying customers.

[RichYak]

51 minutes ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

If you see the world as glass half empty, be prepared for disappointment all around you.

Personally, I just add more ice to make it look full. Then I get another when I finish that one.

[cruisin from florida]

8 minutes ago, RichYak said:

Personally, I just add more ice to make it look full. Then I get another when I finish that one.

Gin works, too.

[MamaFej]

Then again, many of us paid for a full glass. According to many recent reports, X decided to take out some of the contents of the glass for those of us who are not in suites. 

 

I'm cautiously optimistic that my glass will be more full than empty on my upcoming cruises. I hope the same will be true for everyone else's glass as well. . 

[RichYak]

20 minutes ago, cruisin from florida said:

Gin works, too.

The glass I was referring to had whiskey in it. 🤪

[cruisin from florida]

6 minutes ago, RichYak said:

The glass I was referring to had whiskey in it. 🤪

Well then, gin would be a very bad idea. Unless you want all other cruise issues to pale in comparison.

[horseymike]

I once knew of a car rental company that set the bar in that industry. When you rented a car from that company you knew you were dealing with the best in the business . Situations were dealt with professionally and promptly, and yes you paid more than some of the other rental companies were charging but at the time they were well worth it.

The aforementioned company has since been sold , merged , resold and what have you numerous times. It is still advertising the same name but that is the last good thing you can connect to the company that once set the bar in that business…….. Sadly , these days , this happens way too much.

[TeeRick]

15 minutes ago, horseymike said:

I once knew of a car rental company that set the bar in that industry. When you rented a car from that company you knew you were dealing with the best in the business . Situations were dealt with professionally and promptly, and yes you paid more than some of the other rental companies were charging but at the time they were well worth it.

The aforementioned company has since been sold , merged , resold and what have you numerous times. It is still advertising the same name but that is the last good thing you can connect to the company that once set the bar in that business…….. Sadly , these days , this happens way too much.

Like with Crystal Cruises for example?

[horseymike]

Good point.

[Covepointcruiser]

2 hours ago, MamaFej said:

Then again, many of us paid for a full glass. According to many recent reports, X decided to take out some of the contents of the glass for those of us who are not in suites. 

 

I'm cautiously optimistic that my glass will be more full than empty on my upcoming cruises. I hope the same will be true for everyone else's glass as well. . 

Since you will be in the Retreat you shouldn’t notice any negative changes.   If you prefer to eat in the OV for dinner you will notice there is less choice.

[MamaFej]

We just got notice that our Move Up bid was accepted for the first cruise of our upsoming 5 cruise trip. 

 

That means we will have the first cruise in Retreat, immediately followed by two B2B in Aqua (for B2B2B). 

 

After a week and a half on land, we have another Aqua sailing, then more land time, and a standard verandah for the last 18 day cruise.

 

This will give us plenty of opportunities to see for ourselves how these three classes of crusing on Celebrity compare on the same ship in a fairly short period of time (57 days of cruising on an 82 day trip). 

 

I kind of wished it had worked out in reverse. Starting high and going lower might not be quite as much fun as moving in the other direction. 

 

NGL: we'll probably bid to move up on the last cruise, but it has been mostly sold for a long time. 

[MamaFej]

5 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Since you will be in the Retreat you shouldn’t notice any negative changes.   If you prefer to eat in the OV for dinner you will notice there is less choice.

How on earth did you know we got moved to Retreat before I did? I literally just got the email 4 minutes ago. 

 

The point of my post that you quoted was that X has supposedly taken away from non suite guests (like I almost always am). 

[Linsie]

6 hours ago, cruisin from florida said:

I've read a lot of the "sky is falling" and "you're overreacting" threads over the last month or so.

Here's what I've gleaned:

-Staffing shortages are impacting the cruise experience.

-Price pressure and supply chain issues are impacting food options and quality.

-There are charges for things that used to be complementary.

-Cruise prices are increasing.

These factors will drive some folks away from Celebrity and/or cruising. Others will accept the changes and make the most of their cruise until the final straw for them, which is very individual and subjective.

Celebrity and other lines will continue to try to strike a balance between returning to profitability/paying off debt and retaining their core identity and customer base.

 

Personally, I'm very interested in people's perceptions even/especially the negative, so that my expectations are appropriately set fo upcoming cruises.

 

I'll be on the Silhouette in a week and a half for a girls' trip. It will be my second Celebrity cruise (did Apex last February - it was wonderful!) and my friend's first X cruise. We usually cruise Royal, but liked the X product a lot. We've done about 5 cruises since the reopen. I'll post about our experiences, both the positives and negatives, in the hope that it will help others set their expectations as well.

 

Cheers!

 

If you just eat in MDR you could easily lose rather than gain weight.

[Lastdance]

Honestly, losing weight on a cruise is not the end of the world, but as long as I have plenty of ice cubes, my world rocks!