Celebrity wins Forbes Travel Guide Award for cruise lines

[Sigyn]

Forgive me if this has already been posted, but Celebrity won one of five Forbes Travel Guide Awards now that Forbes has added cruise lines to its award options: https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2023/02/17/celebrity-cruises-forbes-guide-awards/11280049002/

 

According to the USA Today article, Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Flora and Celebrity Millennium each earned four-star ratings, while Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Summit were designated as "recommended," according to the Forbes Travel Guide website. 

 

Here is the press release that Celebrity put out: https://www.celebritycruisespresscenter.com/press-release/1282/celebrity-cruises-becomes-the-first-cruise-line-to-ever-earn-the-coveted-forbes-travel-guide-award/

 

 

[cachouonacruise]

Wow! Thanks for sharing this positive new development! 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Curiosity killed the cat but I wonder why not X's newest ship, the Beyond?  Why is Celebrity the only cruise line to win this award and not any ultra-luxury lines like Ritz, Regent, Viking, etc?

[Sigyn]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Curiosity killed the cat but I wonder why not X's newest ship, the Beyond?  Why is Celebrity the only cruise line to win this award and not any ultra-luxury lines like Ritz, Regent, Viking, etc?

It's too late for me to edit my original post, but there were more than five awards given when you include hotels, restaurants and spas, etc. But only five ships were given awards and they were all from Celebrity. Here is the full list of awards from Forbes, which also explains how they choose who will get awards: https://www.forbestravelguide.com/award-winners

 

Here is more information directly from Forbes - found at this link https://stories.forbestravelguide.com/forbes-travel-guides-2023-star-award-winners "For the first time in its 65-year history, Forbes Travel Guide dove into ocean cruises, launching its inaugural ratings with five ships. Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Flora and Celebrity Millennium earned Four-Star awards, while Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Summit received Recommended honors."

 

Forbes also says: "A second wave of cruise line ratings will be announced later this year and evaluations are already underway on several ships worthy of star ratings for 2024."

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by njsmom

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 minutes ago, njsmom said:

It's too late for me to edit my original post, but there were more than five awards given when you include hotels, restaurants and spas, etc. But only five ships were given awards and they were all from Celebrity. Here is the full list of awards from Forbes, which also explains how they choose who will get awards: https://www.forbestravelguide.com/award-winners

 

Here is more information directly from Forbes - found at this link https://stories.forbestravelguide.com/forbes-travel-guides-2023-star-award-winners "For the first time in its 65-year history, Forbes Travel Guide dove into ocean cruises, launching its inaugural ratings with five ships. Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Flora and Celebrity Millennium earned Four-Star awards, while Celebrity Edge and Celebrity Summit received Recommended honors."

 

Forbes also says: "A second wave of cruise line ratings will be announced later this year and evaluations are already underway on several ships worthy of star ratings for 2024."

 

 

 

Thanks that answers some questions as they state this is the “initial” yet you do wonder only Celebrity was awarded and more importantly, did they rate other cruise lines and deem them “not worthy”?

 

I’m hoping this is a blessing in disguise and  motivates X to up their food quality.  Forbes mentions “Known for fine dining” and if people are booking X for the food they will be outright disappointed by the current food offering

[Sigyn]

32 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Thanks that answers some questions as they state this is the “initial” yet you do wonder only Celebrity was awarded and more importantly, did they rate other cruise lines and deem them “not worthy”?

 

I’m hoping this is a blessing in disguise and  motivates X to up their food quality.  Forbes mentions “Known for fine dining” and if people are booking X for the food they will be outright disappointed by the current food offering

Really? My dearest friend is disembarking from the Solstice this morning and she has been quite pleased with the food in the MDR. To the point that she texted me to tell me about it since she knows we'll be on our first-ever Celebrity cruise this summer. It's her first Celebrity cruise in 23 years. They've been on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth, the Cunard Queen Victoria and the Princess Crown Princess in the past nine months. She really liked the food on Cunard and the service was outstanding, but she said the food on Celebrity has it beat, but the service in the dining room isn't as attentive. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

6 minutes ago, njsmom said:

Really? My dearest friend is disembarking from the Solstice this morning and she has been quite pleased with the food in the MDR. To the point that she texted me to tell me about it since she knows we'll be on our first-ever Celebrity cruise this summer. It's her first Celebrity cruise in 23 years. They've been on the Cunard Queen Elizabeth, the Cunard Queen Victoria and the Princess Crown Princess in the past nine months. She really liked the food on Cunard and the service was outstanding, but she said the food on Celebrity has it beat, but the service in the dining room isn't as attentive. 

 

I truly wish I had their palate...You have seen one of the many threads about the cuts in service and declining food quality?  This is is 17 pages long and only a week old: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2915201-not-to-pile-on-but-it’s-bad…/?do=getNewComment

[Chardonnay Char]

I think it is worth mentioning that the award was for the ships themselves -- for the architecture and ambiance, not for the food or activities onboard.  

[C4HCG]

4 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I truly wish I had their palate...You have seen one of the many threads about the cuts in service and declining food quality?  This is is 17 pages long and only a week old: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2915201-not-to-pile-on-but-it’s-bad…/?do=getNewComment

If only they had read that thread they wouldn’t have made their own minds up and enjoyed themselves. For goodness sake. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

5 hours ago, njsmom said:

Really? My dearest friend is disembarking from the Solstice this morning and she has been quite pleased with the food in the MDR.

To that end, I have been searching other sites for Solstice reviews since there haven't been any updated reviews on CC in weeks and in my search, I have read nothing but great reviews to include satisfaction with the food in both OVC and MDR.  In the 8 reviews I read today, most were 4 and 5 stars with only one 3 star...and that reviewer wasn't as enthusiastic about the food.  Additionally, only one of the 8 reviews was from a suite passenger.  I went on this search because there has been so much negativity on CC boards that I wanted another perspective.  We are boarding Solstice in 2 weeks.  I do agree with @NutsAboutGolf though, in that such awards and recognitions should spur Celebrity to continue over all improvements as they endeavor to cut the fat where they can.  

 

Thanks for posting!

Edited February 18, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[deliver42]

There are no boards that have the negativity of Celebrity  or Royal. These people seem to expect 6 star cruising, and when they don't get it, they moan.

[C4HCG]

1 minute ago, deliver42 said:

There are no boards that have the negativity of Celebrity  or Royal. These people seem to expect 6 star cruising, and when they don't get it, they moan.

But they pay for it 🤔I have never had a holiday when everything was perfect

[Sigyn]

21 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

There are no boards that have the negativity of Celebrity  or Royal. These people seem to expect 6 star cruising, and when they don't get it, they moan.

Ah, then you've missed all of the uproar over NCL's newest ship, the Prima. I was on it in December and it was lovely, the food was delicious, the ship was beautiful. But to hear others you'd think they'd descended into the nine circles of Hell the moment they embarked. 

[Sigyn]

5 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I truly wish I had their palate...You have seen one of the many threads about the cuts in service and declining food quality?  This is is 17 pages long and only a week old: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2915201-not-to-pile-on-but-it’s-bad…/?do=getNewComment

you're funny!

[NutsAboutGolf]

19 hours ago, deliver42 said:

There are no boards that have the negativity of Celebrity  or Royal. These people seem to expect 6 star cruising, and when they don't get it, they moan.

 

I've had bad steaks on X but never had a bad steak at the Outback/Texas roadhouse, I'd be happy with their quality, many would rank those 1 star

[grandgeezer]

22 hours ago, deliver42 said:

There are no boards that have the negativity of Celebrity  or Royal. These people seem to expect 6 star cruising, and when they don't get it, they moan.

If it’s not 6 star cruising, why is it priced as such? $250 p.p. per day should give you a much better product than is currently offered.

[southernbreezes]

3 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

If it’s not 6 star cruising, why is it priced as such? $250 p.p. per day should give you a much better product than is currently offered.

$250.00 per day gives you the Holiday Inn in maybe some town no one wants to visit. Drinks alone will run you $100.00 per person per day.

Edited February 20, 2023 by southernbreezes