8/15 Redeployment and Changes for Equinox/Summit/Apex/Constellation

[mac_tlc]

14 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Follow the money. Read the last 10Q. 7 day Caribbean (plus Coco Cay) is what is bringing in the money for RCG. 

Unless I misread the post on the other thread, the Equinox itineraries from Port Canaveral do not go to CoCo Cay. Which is surprising. 
 

mac_tlc

[Jeremiah1212]

1 minute ago, mac_tlc said:

Unless I misread the post on the other thread, the Equinox itineraries from Port Canaveral do not go to CoCo Cay. Which is surprising. 
 

mac_tlc

The itineraries I posted don’t show Coco Cay but the rest of the material released does. I can’t imagine they would not visit. 

[mac_tlc]

2 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

The itineraries I posted don’t show Coco Cay but the rest of the material released does. I can’t imagine they would not visit. 

I did notice a few weeks missing from your list, maybe those are the CoCo Cay ones. 
 

I agree that CoCo Cay is driving this and other decisions. I think it is becoming obvious where Celebrity wants to position itself.

 

mac_tlc

Edited August 15, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Shiba_Lover]

7 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

I did notice a few weeks missing from your list, maybe those are the CoCo Cay ones. 
 

I agree that CoCo Cay is driving this and other decisions. I think it is becoming obvious where Celebrity wants to position itself.

 

mac_tlc

Not replying to anyone specific (sorry mac_tlc - not pointing out you) -- but Celebrity also has Labadee as a private destination, which they will visit on some of these itineraries.  So, if not CoCo Cay, then Labadee.

[spammie]

This makes me so sad!  We were booked on the 12-night Constellation to New Orleans March 1, 2025 which got cut to 8 nights.  I cancelled.  We also were booked on the Equinox to go to New Orleans during the Jazz Festival and that got cancelled when the world went sideways.  I guess it's a sign that we just aren't meant to go there.

 

We have been on over 30+ cruises being very loyal to Celebrity.  I think after our 10-night Beyond cruise next April we will start looking elsewhere.  Celebrity is obviously looking to cater to "families" with younger kids.  We love our grown kids and grandkids but cruise on ships for a more adult vibe.  We put our years in on the RCCL family ships.  

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

The other threads are getting muddy so here are the highlights (maybe lowlights - depending on who you are) of changes announced today. 

 

Equinox - 2025 season shifts from South America to Port Canaveral. 

-No ship has been announced for 2025 South America 

-Equinox does mostly 7 night cruises from Port Canaveral including Coco Cay 

 

Summit - the winter 24/25 season will move from San Juan to Fort Lauderdale. 

-There are still some gaps in the schedule or what they have posted isn't fully updated 

-5/7/9 night routes 

 

Apex - the October 2024 dry dock will be pushed out to March 2025.

-A new fall TA will go on sale next week (Southhampton to FLL)

-4 new 6 and 7 night Caribbean cruises will go on sale including Coco Cay

 

Constellation - canceling the 9/12 night Caribbean routes

-ship remains in Tampa 

-shifts to mostly 7 night Caribbean itineraries  

 

 

New deployments should go on sale next Thursday 8/22. 

 

 

 

Re Apex....our Nov. 21/24 cruise has been cancelled with full refund.  Told it's 'safety'??  Part of our notification.  So they're replacing with 7 night cruises?

 

"At Celebrity Cruises, we are passionate about providing award-winning vacation experiences. With this goal in mind, and in accordance with global ship safety guidelines, Celebrity Cruises will be revising Celebrity Apex’s season schedule to include drydock for routine inspection in 2025, instead of 2024 as originally scheduled.  As a result of this rescheduling, select Celebrity Apex sailings scheduled to embark November 9 & 21, 2024, and March 8, 2025 through April 26, 2025, will be cancelled."

[Lena11033]

I can see where they are going, most people I work with have 3 weeks vacation so long cruises wouldn't work for a specific age range so shortening and positioning the cruises where the $ is makes sense. I don't see how they are going to cater to young families, yes some kids would be fine on board but lets face it there are no splash pads or slides etc.

 

But this many changes this quick is going to hurt their image, especially with all the cancellations and cutting of things

[bebe08]

6 minutes ago, spammie said:

This makes me so sad!  We were booked on the 12-night Constellation to New Orleans March 1, 2025 which got cut to 8 nights.  I cancelled.  We also were booked on the Equinox to go to New Orleans during the Jazz Festival and that got cancelled when the world went sideways.  I guess it's a sign that we just aren't meant to go there.

 

We have been on over 30+ cruises being very loyal to Celebrity.  I think after our 10-night Beyond cruise next April we will start looking elsewhere.  Celebrity is obviously looking to cater to "families" with younger kids.  We love our grown kids and grandkids but cruise on ships for a more adult vibe.  We put our years in on the RCCL family ships.  

I feel for you.  We are on Connie in Feb 2024 out of Tampa for a 9 night cruise.  I am hoping this won't change.  We definitely prefer cruises longer than 7 days.

 

Here is an article on the changes that may provide additional info. https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/08/celebrity-big-caribbean-program-for-winter-2024-25/

[Shiba_Lover]

I think they are saving money by cancelling the great deals I had booked, and forcing me to rebook (if I want to) at a higher price with less OBC 😂

[Oceangoer2]

2 minutes ago, Shiba_Lover said:

I think they are saving money by cancelling the great deals I had booked, and forcing me to rebook (if I want to) at a higher price with less OBC 😂

Very much the case.  We had a great cabin and location and a good price for a booking made when cost was reasonable.  Now, to replace that cruise, it's almost a third more for a lower cabin category.  Not happy right now.

[hrhdhd]

21 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Re Apex....our Nov. 21/24 cruise has been cancelled with full refund.  Told it's 'safety'??  Part of our notification.  So they're replacing with 7 night cruises?

 

"At Celebrity Cruises, we are passionate about providing award-winning vacation experiences. With this goal in mind, and in accordance with global ship safety guidelines, Celebrity Cruises will be revising Celebrity Apex’s season schedule to include drydock for routine inspection in 2025, instead of 2024 as originally scheduled.  As a result of this rescheduling, select Celebrity Apex sailings scheduled to embark November 9 & 21, 2024, and March 8, 2025 through April 26, 2025, will be cancelled."

The safety reference seems to be in relation to moving the drydock to a later date.

[mac_tlc]

21 minutes ago, Shiba_Lover said:

I think they are saving money by cancelling the great deals I had booked, and forcing me to rebook (if I want to) at a higher price with less OBC 😂

Exactly. I’m sure it entered into their thinking. So my plan is to not rebook with them but go elsewhere. 
 

Viking, Oceania and MSC are on our radar now, for different reasons.

 

mac_tlc

[wrk2cruise]

9 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

Exactly. I’m sure it entered into their thinking. So my plan is to not rebook with them but go elsewhere. 
 

Viking, Oceania and MSC are on our radar now, for different reasons.

 

mac_tlc

 

Also in their thinking.   More room for new cruisers.   I think their going to have plenty of room.

[The German Guys]

Thank you Celebrity headoffice! Great job. 

Now I'm finally done with Celebrity. I will definitely NOT re-book. 

It is always an amazing experience onboard the ships. But everything else, often annoying booking process, bad customer service, the changing quality of the shore side concierge, to the disastrous decisions made in the head office are simply no longer acceptable to me. Thank goodness there are still enough cruises lines that can do this much better. 

[craig01020]

34 minutes ago, Shiba_Lover said:

I think they are saving money by cancelling the great deals I had booked, and forcing me to rebook (if I want to) at a higher price with less OBC 😂

Yup. My Jan. 2025 Summit cruise was $3,387 including tips and gratuities...and $400 OBC!

 

It was too good to be true.

[Susanb10567]

This is all just eye opening news as to the direction Celebrity is going…and it doesn’t excite me it the least….

 

I thought they would be my go to cruise line after exclusively sailing Disney as my daughter grew up….

 

All these changes like cutting longer itineraries, adding Coco Cay, canceling South America on the Equinox…seems like you really can’t count on them not to redeploy whatever cruise you are booked on.

 

Just returned from a river cruise on Tauck and absolutely loved it…I think I will be shifting my travel plans to Tauck land trips and river cruises..the Celebrity product just seems to be not what I’m looking for anymore..but we will see…we have 5 more cruises booked…. We will see what happens..

Edited August 15, 2023 by Susanb10567

[adjustman]

Jason Liberty is clearly cheapening the brand. He doesn't have the vision Richard Fain had for the cruise industry. Profits in the short term but at what price? I will look at other cruise lines when booking my next cruise. 

[Jeremiah1212]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Thank you for sharing these changes in this form.  I hadn't heard about them until now, but then again I'm not a religious follower of threads on here.

 

Anyway, two notes on the Summit:

 

1.  The gaps in the schedule may be due to some charters.  I know of at least four that are happening in 2025.

2.  I like the Eastern/Southern Caribbean routes out of San Juan.  I'm disappointed that the Summit won't be making them. ☹️  Maybe they'll be back in '25-'26? 🙏

 

Celebrity doesn't seem too committed to San Juan. I know there are a growing number of people who want to sail Caribbean routes while avoiding Florida. But, Summit is a hot charter ship and it's easier to get US clients to charter from Florida than it is to transport guests to San Juan. I would not be surprised at all to see some of the new winter 2025 Summit sailing ultimately get canceled. 

[prmssk]

I have to wonder if they just aren't seeing the same demand they used to for these longer sailings.  And my guess is that those on longer sailings are not usually the ones spending the most in on board spending.

 

I'm not at all surprised at this change.  I suspect the cruising demographics have shifted at a faster rate since the pandemic which probably has made it a bit challenging to guess which itineraries would sell best.  Any business is going to offer what they think will actually sell best.

 

it's really unfortunate for those who get cancelled but could pose new opportunities for others.  To me, sailings out of Port Canaveral are a plus.  I prefer it over Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.  And as much as I love longer cruises, they do stretch the limits of my PTO.

 

[tigervixxxen]

I hadn’t booked but was interested in that Nov 9 TA on Apex, the price was really good but there were a lot of available cabins. Wasn’t it originally supposed to sail from Southampton on like Nov 3, I was looking at that too. Are they going to reinstate the original itinerary? Is it normal to have this many itinerary changes and cancellations?

[peanut head]

Based on all this information, can we assume that the Connie November 2024 TA will be canceled.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

1 hour ago, prmssk said:

I have to wonder if they just aren't seeing the same demand they used to for these longer sailings.  And my guess is that those on longer sailings are not usually the ones spending the most in on board spending.

 

I'm not at all surprised at this change.  I suspect the cruising demographics have shifted at a faster rate since the pandemic which probably has made it a bit challenging to guess which itineraries would sell best.  Any business is going to offer what they think will actually sell best.

 

it's really unfortunate for those who get cancelled but could pose new opportunities for others.  To me, sailings out of Port Canaveral are a plus.  I prefer it over Ft. Lauderdale and Miami.  And as much as I love longer cruises, they do stretch the limits of my PTO.

 

Yup, this is all motivated by where they can make the most cash. Itineraries of 10+ nights really start to limit who can sail. But it'd be much harder to find someone who can't sail on a 7 nighter.

 

I'm in the new younger demographics Celebrity is targeting, and we came over to X because of the more upscale feel, while still being relatively affordable, and the higher quality service and food/beverage programs. I just hope they find a balance between these shortened itineraries without becoming too much of a family line. We strayed from Royal because they became focused too much on waterslides, etc. I'm okay with Celebrity's shortened itineraries (we really can't go on anything more than 9 nights anyway), but I hope Celebrity doesn't start adding bumper cars and laser tag to their ships.

[Hobbsey]

7 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

New deployments should go on sale next Thursday 8/22. 

8/22 is a Tuesday. 

[NMTraveller]

6 hours ago, adjustman said:

I do not understand the reason for these redeployments. It appears the new Celebrity management doesn't seem to know what the cruise line wants to be. As I understood it Celebrity was to be a "Premium" cruise line that competed with the likes of Holland America and Viking. Moving the Equinox to Port Canaveral now seems to be intended towards attracting young families similar to RCL. I am not sure why a family with young children would want to sail on Celebrity since Celebrity is the traditional cruise experience without all the bells and whistles such as an ice-skating rink, sky diving simulators, and rock-climbing walls. Are the Celebrity ships now going to be equipped with these bells and whistles? 

 

I do not understand why passengers would want to sail 7-day cruises on the "old" Constellation when Celebrity offers 7-day cruises on brand new ships.  I thought the older ships such as the Constellation were to be used on longer itineraries where the ports are the truly the destination and not the ship. It does seem that Laura Hodges Bethge and Jason Liberty are trying to make Celebrity in the image of RCL. I personally think that is mistake. 

Yep.  The Royalfication continues...

[neverlaysup]

It would appear that by reducing the majority of the cruises to 7 nights or less, they are seriously targeting families and a younger demographic. I'm not sure I will be sailing Celebrity in the Caribbean this winter or any winter. We loved the 10+ day sailings and don't really want to book B2B 7 day sailings.