Celebrity at a crossroads

[basenji56]

18 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

I really hate their ships, and ALL of their vessels will be this way since they follow the same design. I expected something similar to Edge Class, but Scarlet Lady felt like Ikea Class with zero class or elegance. It was a quick comp cruise, so thank god I didn't pay for it.

Thank you for sharing.  I am booked on a Christmas cruise on Odessey of the Seas.  But have been getting spooked by hearing about how the teens are out of control this month on Spring break cruises.  (Parents are probably enjoying the drink package too much to supervise their kids).  Have been thinking about switching to VV since there are no kids.

 

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, basenji56 said:

Thank you for sharing.  I am booked on a Christmas cruise on Odessey of the Seas.  But have been getting spooked by hearing about how the teens are out of control this month on Spring break cruises.  (Parents are probably enjoying the drink package too much to supervise their kids).  Have been thinking about switching to VV since there are no kids.

 

That is my issue with RCL.  Flipping kids running around the hallways at 2 AM.  Not on spring break.

 

Part of the reason I went to Celebrity.

Edited March 25, 2023 by NMTraveller

[catgirl411]

15 hours ago, basenji56 said:

Thank you for sharing.  I am booked on a Christmas cruise on Odessey of the Seas.  But have been getting spooked by hearing about how the teens are out of control this month on Spring break cruises.  (Parents are probably enjoying the drink package too much to supervise their kids).  Have been thinking about switching to VV since there are no kids.

 

Did Panama Canal 14 day December 2020 over Christmas and New Year’s on Emerald Princess. I was worried about whether there’d be masses of over excited kids but it was great. No problems at all. Perhaps it was the 14 day length or the cruise line or the itinerary but there weren’t all that many kids and the teenagers and college age kids were fine.

[basenji56]

1 minute ago, catgirl411 said:

Did Panama Canal 14 day December 2020 over Christmas and New Year’s on Emerald Princess. I was worried about whether there’d be masses of over excited kids but it was great. No problems at all. Perhaps it was the 14 day length or the cruise line or the itinerary but there weren’t all that many kids and the teenagers and college age kids were fine.

I think both the length and cruise line made the difference.  Fourteen days is a long time for families to cruise.  I don't mind kids but I don't want to sail with out of control kids and indifferent parents.

 

[catgirl411]

24 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

I think both the length and cruise line made the difference.  Fourteen days is a long time for families to cruise.  I don't mind kids but I don't want to sail with out of control kids and indifferent parents.

 

I hear you! Btw it was actually December 2022 so a recent experience.

Edited March 26, 2023 by catgirl411

[TeeRick]

When you have kids, cruise with kids.

When you don't have kids, don't sail with kids.

[C-Dragons]

20 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

When you have kids, cruise with kids.

When you don't have kids, don't sail with kids.

Sounds like good advice.

But unfortunately one does not have control over your second suggestion . 😉

We always sail TA's and there are always children on board. The last cruise some were running through the atrium screaming. I was gobsmacked!

Edited March 26, 2023 by C-Dragons

[TeeRick]

1 minute ago, C-Dragons said:

Sounds like good advice.

But unfortunately one does not have control over your second suggestion . 😉

To a fair degree you can control the second suggestion.  You can choose a cruise in a non-vacation period for a longer itinerary on a line like Celebrity.  There will be barely any kids. Or go with Viking.  Cruises on family friendly lines (RCCL, NCL, Carnival) 7 nights or less will be full of kids.

[hobgoblin]

We  have sailed Aqua class a number of times and most recently on Beyond .

Our latest experience on Beyond in the Blu Restaurant did not go down well.

The dining room design and location looks like its been an after thought ,seems smaller and more cramped, the staff weren't too happy and there seemed a bit of an atmosphere in there, the curtains were always closed and it seemed quite dull(previous ships Blu Restaurants had nice bright windows with views) and the menu doesn't seem to have changed very much over 10 years Ive been sailing on Celebrity in this venue .

We did casually mention to one of the staff in one of the other restaurants on Beyond our disappointment at the experience in Blu and the Maitre de came looking for us one night in another restaurant and confronted us  in front of all the other guests .

I understand he is trying to get some feed back but I didn't think this was the best way of doing this ,I never went back to Blu after that .

[NutsAboutGolf]

44 minutes ago, basenji56 said:

I think both the length and cruise line made the difference.  Fourteen days is a long time for families to cruise.  I don't mind kids but I don't want to sail with out of control kids and indifferent parents.

 

Just playing devils advocate, how many adults have folks encountered who were loud and/or obnoxious on a sailing?  Nearly every X sailing I go on I encounter someone who wants to rant about politics despite me stating life is too short to waste time talking about them

[C-Dragons]

5 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

To a fair degree you can control the second suggestion.  You can choose a cruise in a non-vacation period for a longer itinerary on a line like Celebrity.  There will be barely any kids. Or go with Viking.  Cruises on family friendly lines (RCCL, NCL, Carnival) 7 nights or less will be full of kids.

I think you missed my additional comment above. 😉

And we have no desire to sail on other lines.

Edited March 26, 2023 by C-Dragons

[TeeRick]

1 minute ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Just playing devils advocate, how many adults have folks encountered who were loud and/or obnoxious on a sailing?  Nearly every X sailing I go on I encounter someone who wants to rant about politics despite me stating life is too short to waste time talking about them

Yeah we just all need an Ignore Button for live people.

[chamima]

19 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Just playing devils advocate, how many adults have folks encountered who were loud and/or obnoxious on a sailing?  Nearly every X sailing I go on I encounter someone who wants to rant about politics despite me stating life is too short to waste time talking about them

 

On one of our recent cruises (Equinox) there was a guy who was sitting at one of the smoking tables at the Mast Bar on deck 14 who opined  LOUDLY on his political views for over an hour -- and we were sitting VERY far away almost at the entrance to the Sky Lounge and could clearly hear every word. I finally just got up and went to our balcony for some peace and quiet.

So I'll take a child talking or playing near me over that any day! (But I'm not comparing that to teenagers doing mischief in the halls in the middle of the night which is a different story - and not something we've ever personally encountered)

 

*

 

 

Edited March 26, 2023 by chamima

[C-Dragons]

10 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Just playing devils advocate, how many adults have folks encountered who were loud and/or obnoxious on a sailing?  Nearly every X sailing I go on I encounter someone who wants to rant about politics despite me stating life is too short to waste time talking about them

Truthfully? Only one and it was on our X last cruise.

BTW I said the same thing to them about life being too short. Great minds… 😉

Edited March 26, 2023 by C-Dragons

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just now, C-Dragons said:

Truthfully? Only one and it was on our X last cruise.

BTW I said the same thing to them about life being too short. Great minds…

Ha ha…Since one of the first questions strangers on a cruise ask each other is “where are you from?”, when I answer “California” it seems to be a huge trigger for some

[NutsAboutGolf]

7 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

On one of our recent cruises (Equinox) there was a guy who was sitting at one of the smoking tables at the Mast Bar on deck 14 who opined  LOUDLY on his political views for over an hour -- and we were sitting VERY far away almost at the entrance to the Sky Lounge and could clearly hear every word. I finally just got up and went to our balcony for some peace and quiet.

 

*

 

 

Been there…What I find odd is those with strong political opinions don’t seem to want to talk with others who share their same views, it’s like they intentionally seek out people who don’t want to talk about them

[C-Dragons]

8 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Ha ha…Since one of the first questions strangers on a cruise ask each other is “where are you from?”, when I answer “California” it seems to be a huge trigger for some

I never ask that question.

Learned that lesson a long time ago. 😁

[Guest CunucuMom]

15 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Been there…What I find odd is those with strong political opinions don’t seem to want to talk with others who share their same views, it’s like they intentionally seek out people who don’t want to talk about them

I love chatting with folks who share my political views and the good news is those on the opposite side of the spectrum want nothing to do with me so it's a win-win. 👍  Indeed, life is short and I will do my best to avoid hubby's eyerolls if I happen to encounter one of my tribe.  😂

[catgirl411]

6 minutes ago, CunucuMom said:

I love chatting with folks who share my political views and the good news is those on the opposite side of the spectrum want nothing to do with me so it's a win-win. 👍  Indeed, life is short and I will do my best to avoid hubby's eyerolls if I happen to encounter one of my tribe.  😂

As Canadians, we try to stay well away from any topics that appear to lead to the minefield of US politics. The conversations with fellow passengers are always more interesting (and safer) when we talk about past cruise experiences (unless you encounter one of the chronically unhappy cruisers).

[NutsAboutGolf]

13 minutes ago, CunucuMom said:

I love chatting with folks who share my political views and the good news is those on the opposite side of the spectrum want nothing to do with me so it's a win-win. 👍  Indeed, life is short and I will do my best to avoid hubby's eyerolls if I happen to encounter one of my tribe.  😂

I have no problem if passengers want to engage in a political conversation assuming everyone wants to talk about them.  What we encounter way too frequently are people launching into a rant, you can literally see their blood pressure rise.  Often it’s less about specific political policies and more about how much they love/hate certain govt figures.  If it gets bad and we don’t want to leave the venue, I’ll usually patronize them by saying something like “You make some good points, why haven’t you ran for office yet?”  That usually gets them off their pointless rant

[Myrtle Ave. Mayhem]

I'm DONE with the mass market lines that masquerade as premium. This includes Celebrity, Holland America, & Princess. Everything from new ship design, food, service, lack of attention to detail, constant gimmicky revenue production. Been cruising over 30 years & I think the lines I mentioned have become ghostly shadows of their former selves. 

 

Enter Viking Ocean! Higher price point, but worth every penny. It's as if the founder(Torstein Hagen) saw my personal wish list for a cruise line then went to work, creating Viking. 

[C-Dragons]

2 minutes ago, Myrtle Ave. Mayhem said:

I'm DONE with the mass market lines that masquerade as premium. This includes Celebrity, Holland America, & Princess. Everything from new ship design, food, service, lack of attention to detail, constant gimmicky revenue production. Been cruising over 30 years & I think the lines I mentioned have become ghostly shadows of their former selves. 

 

Enter Viking Ocean! Higher price point, but worth every penny. It's as if the founder(Torstein Hagen) saw my personal wish list for a cruise line then went to work, creating Viking. 

Glad for you!
Not for us. Way too small. 😉

[Lastdance]

My DH and I want to experience the sea, so book either SS's or SV’s for that reason.  We love the wake and the feeling of being on a real ship with a traditional balcony.  Also, change is something that we try to embrace, but if we do not like something, it is not a big deal.  For us it is not about what we do not like, but about what we enjoy onboard a cruise ship; that also means being flexible enough to try other ships, especially for the itinerary.  This all goes back to the opportunity of choice.  We personally find E class a great fit, but that does not mean we would not also cruise another class of ship because great times were had on M & S class.  We do not consider ourselves “old" Celebrity cruisers; however, we do consider ourselves blessed to be able to choose our itineraries and ships, especially in Europe.  As long as we can go, cruising will be a special venue for us to enjoy!  

Edited March 26, 2023 by Lastdance

[SSFrance69]

13 minutes ago, Myrtle Ave. Mayhem said:

I'm DONE with the mass market lines that masquerade as premium. This includes Celebrity, Holland America, & Princess. Everything from new ship design, food, service, lack of attention to detail, constant gimmicky revenue production. Been cruising over 30 years & I think the lines I mentioned have become ghostly shadows of their former selves. 

 

Enter Viking Ocean! Higher price point, but worth every penny. It's as if the founder(Torstein Hagen) saw my personal wish list for a cruise line then went to work, creating Viking. 

I agree and that's exactly how I felt about my first cruise on Oceania earlier this month. What a fabulous ship. Food and service the best I've ever had. It's a bit more pricey, but also has the added value of included water, soda, special coffee and specialty restaurants. I have a cruise already booked for Celebrity in July but after that I think we will stick with Oceania. 

[goofysmom99]

Since returning from my Summit cruises in February, I've been researching other options for my annual TAs.  What I've found is that the premium lines (Silversea and Regent) have low/no single supplements which put them the realm of possibility (I think 2013 was the last time I had a solo discount on a Celebrity TA).  The premium lines' all-suite offerings will cost approximately the same for solo as Aqua solo on X.  The menus in their restaurants look amazing.  I've cruised 90 days on X since the restart and become tired of the menus which haven't changed in ages, except maybe for a few cuts. I'll be checking Oceania next.  Point is, I had no idea I could afford the premium lines until discussions like this thread goaded me into looking.