Seriously now-how many of you are REALLY looking at other cruise lines because of the CEO's changes going on?

[SkystheLimit]

We have one cruise booked on the Reflection in March.  Got a decent deal a few months ago and have substantial FCC's to use.  We have sailed so many places with Celebrity and have enjoyed our time with them.  However, we can't really rationalize spending the amount of money that they are charging now for what appears to be a continually degrading product.  Our cruising days are winding down and we are probably disposable to Celebrity.  Fortunately, a couple of cruise lines don't feel that way and value our patronage which is why they have earned our business.

[goofysmom99]

2 hours ago, Keys Kathy said:

...the line has sunk so low the perks do not make up for the differences....

 

There are a lot of zeniths who now agree, myself included.

[kelib]

4 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

I'm not sure Princess is all that much different than Celebrity. Choose wisely. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2957180-just-got-an-email-outlining-the-new-offerings/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2958333-response-from-princess-to-email-re-changes/#comment-65943401

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2954258-casual-dining-fixed-price-menus-and-a-la-carte-charges/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2954341-confused-about-the-new-charges/

 

I have both my first Princess cruise in November and good chance my last cruise with Celebrity over NYE. So far everything on Princess is a lot less. Their Princess plus, specialty dining and excursions are substantially less than Celebrity. We shall see how they stack up on my forthcoming cruise.

[cachouonacruise]

I have to admit being perplexed and somewhat concerned by all the negativity on these boards, regarding Celebrity.

Admittedly, I am not an experienced cruiser. 
 

But, I really enjoyed my experiences so far, on Celebrity, including my last Caribbean cruise on Millenium this spring.

 

On these Board, the former CEO, LLP, was heavily criticized for a number of issues; however, the criticism has increased exponentially since she left. So, I really am not sure, how to interpret that! 

 

We have one more cruise booked on X, on the Edge, spring of 2024, but the price of our cruise, almost doubled since we boomed it, almost two years ago.

 

So, to answer the OP's question; current prices and customer feedback, is really motivating us to look elsewhere for 2025. Our decision will be finalized, following our experience on the Edge. 
 

 

 

 

 

[neverlaysup]

It had nothing to do with the CEO but rather the quality of the experience reference to the price I have paid. We have determined that we like smaller ships, especially in the Caribbean so on those voyages we are gravitating towards Windstar for its amazing service, food and itineraries. We will continue with larger ships, Celebrity, maybe Royal or Virgin for Ocean crossings because we would want more daily activities to keep us occupied. We have a Retreat cruise in about a week so based on that experience, we will decide what the future holds for us. I know the grass is not always greener with other lines but if the price and accommodation is right...why not give them a chance. The worst that could happen is that we realize Celebrity is still the place for us.

[Janedoe2012]

I am Captain’s Club Elite status and have 2 cruises currently booked with Celebrity ( Dec 2023 & June 2024). I am at a point where I think Celebrity’s premium pricing doesn’t equate to a premium product. ( up charges for room service, lame dining room menus with entree up charges). 
 

I have sailed MSC Yacht Club and Holland America. I enjoyed the cruises but thought  the food and service was superior on Celebrity.

 

I am going to go on the December cruise and have a great time. In the mean time I will look elsewhere and pull the plug on the June 2024 cruise  based on my December sailing.

 

[RichYak]

17 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

I have to admit being perplexed and somewhat concerned by all the negativity on these boards, regarding Celebrity.

 

18 minutes ago, cachouonacruise said:

We have one more cruise booked on X, on the Edge, spring of 2024, but the price of our cruise, almost doubled since we boomed it, almost two years ago.

Cruises have almost doubled in price and service and quality has diminished. What exactly perplexes you?

[bjahil47]

We are on Equinox for a B2B in two weeks, that will be our 8th cruise on Celebrity.  We have no more booked and am looking at MSC (yacht club), HA and others.

[tymike]

For the first time in many years and many cruises (started on NCL then changed to Celebrity) we have NO cruises booked with Celebrity going forward.  Can't trust the product, the changes or the cost.

 

Next cruises booked....HAL, MSC, and A&K.

 

Sorry to say goodbye to Celebrity but in my opinion, they brought this on themselves.

[spiff2]

3 hours ago, MACruisers said:

I have 4 cruises booked on Ascent in suites. When I board, I always know what future cruise I will be booking. I have spent the last several weeks looking at MSC YC, and several other premium lines (not silver seas). If Celebrity is looking for ways to push customers away they have certainly discovered the secret sauce.    I realize Celebrity and RCG is a business and like other hospitality businesses was saddled with debt during the pandemic. The solution is NOT to raise prices and reduce value.  The solution IS to keep your loyal customer, increase prices and show them your value.  CFO’s have no business running a company, they don’t understand customers, customer behavior and that it is MORE expensive to attract new customers than it is to retain your current customers.  I loved you Celebrity up until now but it appears to be time to move on after these cruises UNLESS you wake up and respect that customer want value for their money.  

Hello

I am Elite on Celebrity with a cruise booked on Ascent next year. But I have also started looking at the luxury lines with the price points now being similar to Retreat. One I have looked at is Silverseas. You mentioned not silver seas. I was wondering if there was a horror story.

[hankandteri]

Given the high cost of new customer acquisition, we are exactly the kind of folks X should work hard to turn into loyal repeaters. We sailed the Med with Oceania in June in a penthouse suite, we’ll be with Celebrity on a transatlantic next month, and we’ll try Princess in February on a Panama Canal cruise. 
 

We don’t have quadruple titanium status a like some here, but three 10+ day cruises over nine months is more than average. 

Instead of being excited about our first sailing with X in a couple of decades, we have buyers remorse over our upcoming cruise, and it hasn’t even happened yet.

 

If I had known all the changes (especially the degraded MDR menus) were coming when we booked next month’s TA, I would have chosen HAL or another line that had a similar itinerary. 
 

I’m sure we’ll have a great time next month, but skyrocketing price tags for a cheapened experience throws the price/value equation out of whack for us and makes it extremely likely that we won’t be returning any time soon. 
 

There are plenty of other fish (and cruise lines) in the sea. I’m willing to give many of them a chance to hit that price/value sweet spot for us. Six months ago, I thought that line would be X. Now, not so much. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by hankandteri

[MamaFej]

3 hours ago, MACruisers said:

I have 4 cruises booked on Ascent in suites. When I board, I always know what future cruise I will be booking. I have spent the last several weeks looking at MSC YC, and several other premium lines (not silver seas). If Celebrity is looking for ways to push customers away they have certainly discovered the secret sauce.    I realize Celebrity and RCG is a business and like other hospitality businesses was saddled with debt during the pandemic. The solution is NOT to raise prices and reduce value.  The solution IS to keep your loyal customer, increase prices and show them your value.  CFO’s have no business running a company, they don’t understand customers, customer behavior and that it is MORE expensive to attract new customers than it is to retain your current customers.  I loved you Celebrity up until now but it appears to be time to move on after these cruises UNLESS you wake up and respect that customer want value for their money.  

DING! DING! DING! DING! DING!!!!!

 

We are far from loyalists, having sailed on Princess, Celebrity, Windstar, Azamara, Ama (river), SilverSea (expedition), and Viking Ocean in the last 9 years. We did sail NCL in 1988 and 1991 for 3 and 4 days, but those are too long ago to be relevant to today's cruising. The majority of our cruises have been on Celebrity, and I used to always check Celebrity first when looking. Not anymore. 

 

We retired in October of 2019, and had a great X cruise from Honolulu to Vancouver to celebrate. We had lots more planned for 2020 and early 2021. 

Kablooie! 🦠🦠🦠

 

Since cruising restarted, we've taken 4 in 2021, 8 in 2022, and 5 in 2023, with two more planned (17 days to Australia on Celebrity and 28 days around Australia on Princess). 

 

We have five Celebrity cruises booked in Asia next year, plus a Total Solar Eclipse cruise on Princess and a Viking Ocean cruise up the Amazon. We have three cruises booked so far in 2025. None of those is on Celebrity.

 

As I sit here, Hubby is looking at replacing 2 or 3 of those 2024 Asia cruises on X with additional land travel and other cruiselines. Honestly, we got such good deals on them, booking early, that we will likely keep at least two of them. . .  but we are still looking. We wouldn't have been a year ago. 

 

We scrimped, saved, and invested well for decades. We now get to spend what we saved, invested, and grew. We might be downright impoverished compared to most folks who regularly sail in suites, but we do have money and we are determined to spend it on awesome experiences. It seems that that "Secret sauce" is pushing us away as well. I'm confident that other travel companies will happiy take that money. 

 

So, yeah, we are REALLY looking at other cruiselines bacause of the changes. 

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by MamaFej
clarification

[xamsx]

1 hour ago, Cruise till you drop said:

I think you’re proving my point 

 

These lines (Azamara, Oceania, Regent) aren’t the same and people aren’t moving on because they’re dissatisfied with Celebrity, they’re moving on to move up to a different class.

 

As for Princess being cheaper, I also believe this to be true but I haven’t seen many posts about people moving to Princess as they have their share of issues as well (back to the grass is greener comment)

We are dissatisfied Celebrity customers, and we have booked Oceania, Regent, and Princess (as well as two other lines).  The reason we are trying these other lines is due to our dissatisfaction with Celebrity. In many ways we should be thanking Celebrity for raising prices and slashing service, food, and benefits as that is what directly led us to exploring these other lines and their itineraries.
 

 

[expattraveler]

4 hours ago, TommyD3 said:

Have taken over 165 Celebrity cruises over the last 30 years.Double Zenith. Kids are triple Zenith with over 200 Celebrity cruises each.

Have about a dozen Celebrity future cruises booked. Will not book anymore for about a year to see what the future changes are. If they reduce the Zenith benefits I will cancel all future bookings !!!

Was onboard the Equinox last week. Other than the Zenith lunch on the last day, I was not impressed.

MDR food has dropped significantly (best entree the entire cruise was flank steak).

Early seating started at 5:30, had guests strolling in even at 7:00 !!!

Will stop cruising if conditions worsen. Seems like the Presidents goal is to drive the line out of business !!!

While we are only E level our go to line was Celebrity for quality, cost and experience.
 

On our last three Celebrity cruises in late 2022 and early 2023 the food in the MDR was military mess hall quality at best. From reading the boards, and seeing pictures of the MDR menus for the past few months, it appears the food quality in the MDR has sunk to new levels. Such a shame.
 

What was once a great product, the Celebrity brand is no longer what it was. IMO the two other mass market lines we have sailed since our three past Celebrity cruises exceeded Celebrity’s product and at a better price point.

 

While we typically have at least two, if not three, future cruises booked on Celebrity, we only have one additional Celebrity cruise booked this year. I fear it may be our last until they change the direction in which they appear to be headed.

 

Again, such a shame to a once great product….

[killaypirate]

Possible start of divorce proceedings with X on Saturday. Departing NYC on Emerald Princess. Favourites cruise lines were Azamara & Celebrity.  Today only Azamara, who knows by the end of next week. Even if Princess only as good as X is now, at least I will be paying a more approriateky cheaper price. Cabin category always been Balcony or Concierge on X, & Balcony (suite only once) on Azamara.

[montythecat]

Yup. We’ve gone as well. Elite Plus but probably won’t be returning

to Celebrity. Holland America is now our favourite cruise line. We

particularly like The Pinnacle class ships, but Vista are also good.

 

 

[rachiem]

We have the Reflection booked for this coming Monday and we are Elite status.

We have decided not to book any more ocean cruises at the moment and will be trying some river cruises.

We have a Xmas markets Scenic river cruise in December, which we are really excited about!

Just out of interest, does anyone know who will match a Celebrity loyalty status?

We have matched with MSC but no one else.

Edited September 7, 2023 by rachiem

[lifeisrealygood]

Here's my two cents.  My wife and I are in our mid-seventies, and have been cruising for maybe 25 years.  Over the years, we have sailed Regent, Disney, Princess, Royal, Holland America, Tauck & Celebrity.  .  We have not sailed Carnival or Norwegian, or any of the luxury lines except Regent. 

We have been on maybe 60 or so cruises, but 45 have been on Celebrity, which quickly became our go-to cruise line.  Remember the Celebrity Century, that was our first Celebrity cruise back in the 1990's. 

     We have grown to love Celebrity, as we are not theme park cruisers.  We do not need water slides, bumper cars, laser tag, etc.  But, we do love Disney.  As our family grew, starting in 1972, we took our summer vacations to Walt Disney World every year for 24 years.  We started back in the E-ticket days (remember), and grew with Disney as they added park after park over the years.  

     So, we have cruised the world with Celebrity, and have exhausted our bucket list of places to visit on a cruise ship. So now, although we still do the sightseeing in Europe or the catamarans in the Caribbean, shore excursions are no longer our main reason for cruising.  We just love the ship itself and its activities.  We love the nightly entertainment in the Theatre, and all of the music around the ship.  As we grew up in the rock & roll era of the fifties and sixties, we still love to dance, and still enjoy dancing, whether it be in the Grand Foyer, Sky Lounge, Eden, the Club, wherever.  In the Caribbean, we're not using our minds much, and love just laying around the pool with a cocktail in hand.

So, we still like Celebrity, and will continue cruising with them.  I realize that is a different opinion than is being shared here.  We are not happy with a lot of what is going on, but "it is what it is".  All lines are making changes to help with their bottom line, and I get that.  And, no, I am not a fan of the new President of Celebrity.  We really liked the 14 day cruises of the past, but over the years those have been reduced to 12 nights, and now 10 nights seems to be the norm for a longer cruise.  We have noticed that the quality of food has gone way down for dinner, and that is a little problem, but we are not gourmet eaters, and the food is just fine. We still think the buffet has excellent breakfast and lunch choices and the quality is still okay.  Cruising has gotten a lot more expensive, but we'll still travel, and maybe the kids get a little less later.  We are not Suite people, which is what Celebrity is pushing these days, so all the comments about losing a butler is no issue for us.  We always stay mid-ship, prime concierge class cabin.  The canapes received every day are horrible, have been bad for a lot of years.  So we realize they have gone from bad to inedible, but we never got them anyway.  We go to Cafe El Bacio or the Oceanview Cafe for our afternoon treats.  Also the bottle of sparkling wine they give you for concierge class is terrible. Has always been terrible.  We just tell the cabin attendant to keep it.  We like the concierge class larger cotton towels and robes.   We like the free internet and laundry (Elite Plus perks).  We know our way around the ships, so we do not need anyone to be at our beckon call to help us.  We make our dinner reservations and shore excursions ourselves pre-cruise, and enjoy the Premium drink package.  And, yes, as wine drinkers, even the premium package has some pretty weak varieties.             

     So., Celebrity has clean and well appointed ships, have just the proper amount of guests, have a lot to do every day and evening, just no amusement park stuff.  We like that there are no announcements made over the loud speaker, except for the Captain each day at 9:45 A.M.  Music around the ship is plentiful, whether it be the house band, party band, orchestra, guitar player, string quartet, much variety.  Lots of bars to frequent, some louder than others, but also some quiet places like the Ensemble Lounge.  The ships are not crowded, no lines anywhere, service remains exceptional.  Food is okay, casino is non-smoking, table games in the casino are always available, Although there seems to be a lot of cutbacks, they really do not effect our cruising style much.  But, for many posters on here, these changes are considered bad enough for them to abandon Celebrity.  Just be careful what you wish for. Celebrity still meets our needs, at least for the stuff we like to do on a cruise.

      So, Celebrity, we are here to stay, at least for now.  We treat Celebrity Cruises like a four or five star hotel, with nice accommodations, daily food, daily entertainment, and great service.  While on Regent, for example, a much smaller ship, we were hounded constantly for "what can we help you with", and everyone had to tell you their life stories. The food was excellent, but there was not the same level of entertainment and activities that Celebrity provides.  We just like the bigger Celebrity ships where we still get the good service and atmosphere, but can be left alone to do our own thing.  So, the luxury cruise lines are not our cup of tea.  Just our opinion.  The luxury lines are just too small for us.  

Wow!!! That's a lot of words.  But, I wanted to dispel so much negativity on this forum.  Celebrity is just not that bad. 

[wineoclock]

Looking at Regent for next year October. Will check out Cunard as well. Already downgraded our June cruise from a CS to an SV. Shame as would have made E+ if kept CS! 
We are in MS this October on Beyond so I’ll report back as to changes. 

[zanderblue]

We’ve decided that it’s time to move on from Celebrity. Getting close to 20 cruises with them over last 15 years, so reckon we’ve had the best of it.

Dropping standards in MDR, along with high pricing just don’t deliver on value for us anymore. We are on Infinity in a few weeks with friends, so found it difficult to cancel, but have cancelled next February on Silhouette.

I expect we’ll give Viking or Regent a go next.

[jean87510]

I am apparently not that much of a loyalist as I have no clue of the CEO or President of Celebrity is.  I just knew the former was Lisa as I got a lot of emails from her.  

 

Celebrity was a great line 7 years ago when I first sailed on the summit and still nice when I sailed on the Eclipse in February.  I truly prefer it overall.

 

Unfortunately the company has lost us because of pricing.  We have 1 more cruise booked on the Reflection in December 2024 and then we are done unless the itinerary and price are better by comparison.  Items such as canapes, chocolates, restocking drinks in minibar, Blu restaurant are not things we are interested in anymore.  We have 2 60th birthday cruises coming up and 1 is on NCL from Sydney to Tahiti and the other is AK cruise tour with Royal.  We did check Celebrity and others but price won with the 2 we chose.  

 

I am at the point now I pick cruises for price, itinerary, and exclusive occupancy.  I don't like lines, crowded areas, loud music, being at the pool onboard.   We are trying MSC YC in December as opposed to the Retreat area on an Edge ship.  Price was 1/2 at that time.

[Gracie115]

2 hours ago, lifeisrealygood said:

   But, I wanted to dispel so much negativity on this forum.  Celebrity is just not that bad. 

 

Celebrity is not that bad.......... it has just completely outpriced itself for what it offers and now fails to offer.

I'm sure there are many like you, obviously.  I choose to be more discriminating with the money we worked so hard to save over the years and want the product I buy to be the product I have come to expect.  Celebrity fails in that regard. 

 

[jean87510]

2 hours ago, lifeisrealygood said:

Here's my two cents.  My wife and I are in our mid-seventies, and have been cruising for maybe 25 years.  Over the years, we have sailed Regent, Disney, Princess, Royal, Holland America, Tauck & Celebrity.  .  We have not sailed Carnival or Norwegian, or any of the luxury lines except Regent. 

We have been on maybe 60 or so cruises, but 45 have been on Celebrity, which quickly became our go-to cruise line.  Remember the Celebrity Century, that was our first Celebrity cruise back in the 1990's. 

     We have grown to love Celebrity, as we are not theme park cruisers.  We do not need water slides, bumper cars, laser tag, etc.  But, we do love Disney.  As our family grew, starting in 1972, we took our summer vacations to Walt Disney World every year for 24 years.  We started back in the E-ticket days (remember), and grew with Disney as they added park after park over the years.  

     So, we have cruised the world with Celebrity, and have exhausted our bucket list of places to visit on a cruise ship. So now, although we still do the sightseeing in Europe or the catamarans in the Caribbean, shore excursions are no longer our main reason for cruising.  We just love the ship itself and its activities.  We love the nightly entertainment in the Theatre, and all of the music around the ship.  As we grew up in the rock & roll era of the fifties and sixties, we still love to dance, and still enjoy dancing, whether it be in the Grand Foyer, Sky Lounge, Eden, the Club, wherever.  In the Caribbean, we're not using our minds much, and love just laying around the pool with a cocktail in hand.

So, we still like Celebrity, and will continue cruising with them.  I realize that is a different opinion than is being shared here.  We are not happy with a lot of what is going on, but "it is what it is".  All lines are making changes to help with their bottom line, and I get that.  And, no, I am not a fan of the new President of Celebrity.  We really liked the 14 day cruises of the past, but over the years those have been reduced to 12 nights, and now 10 nights seems to be the norm for a longer cruise.  We have noticed that the quality of food has gone way down for dinner, and that is a little problem, but we are not gourmet eaters, and the food is just fine. We still think the buffet has excellent breakfast and lunch choices and the quality is still okay.  Cruising has gotten a lot more expensive, but we'll still travel, and maybe the kids get a little less later.  We are not Suite people, which is what Celebrity is pushing these days, so all the comments about losing a butler is no issue for us.  We always stay mid-ship, prime concierge class cabin.  The canapes received every day are horrible, have been bad for a lot of years.  So we realize they have gone from bad to inedible, but we never got them anyway.  We go to Cafe El Bacio or the Oceanview Cafe for our afternoon treats.  Also the bottle of sparkling wine they give you for concierge class is terrible. Has always been terrible.  We just tell the cabin attendant to keep it.  We like the concierge class larger cotton towels and robes.   We like the free internet and laundry (Elite Plus perks).  We know our way around the ships, so we do not need anyone to be at our beckon call to help us.  We make our dinner reservations and shore excursions ourselves pre-cruise, and enjoy the Premium drink package.  And, yes, as wine drinkers, even the premium package has some pretty weak varieties.             

     So., Celebrity has clean and well appointed ships, have just the proper amount of guests, have a lot to do every day and evening, just no amusement park stuff.  We like that there are no announcements made over the loud speaker, except for the Captain each day at 9:45 A.M.  Music around the ship is plentiful, whether it be the house band, party band, orchestra, guitar player, string quartet, much variety.  Lots of bars to frequent, some louder than others, but also some quiet places like the Ensemble Lounge.  The ships are not crowded, no lines anywhere, service remains exceptional.  Food is okay, casino is non-smoking, table games in the casino are always available, Although there seems to be a lot of cutbacks, they really do not effect our cruising style much.  But, for many posters on here, these changes are considered bad enough for them to abandon Celebrity.  Just be careful what you wish for. Celebrity still meets our needs, at least for the stuff we like to do on a cruise.

      So, Celebrity, we are here to stay, at least for now.  We treat Celebrity Cruises like a four or five star hotel, with nice accommodations, daily food, daily entertainment, and great service.  While on Regent, for example, a much smaller ship, we were hounded constantly for "what can we help you with", and everyone had to tell you their life stories. The food was excellent, but there was not the same level of entertainment and activities that Celebrity provides.  We just like the bigger Celebrity ships where we still get the good service and atmosphere, but can be left alone to do our own thing.  So, the luxury cruise lines are not our cup of tea.  Just our opinion.  The luxury lines are just too small for us.  

Wow!!! That's a lot of words.  But, I wanted to dispel so much negativity on this forum.  Celebrity is just not that bad. 

Great summary.  We have been on 6 Celebrity sailings and just finished our 29th cruise.  I feel exactly as you do about the Celebrity experience but we still like the itinerary and prices to choose our cruises.  

 

I think there are a couple of over 14 day cruises in the south Pacific.  We looked at one for our 60th.

[TowandaUK]

I’d like to think we are “resting” celebrity while trying another line. Once things settle down we shall look at X again - but not if the only offering from Southampton is Edge class. 

[holidaylover10]

We have a Celebrity Constellation cruise for next July, but I to will look at other lines for future cruises.