Wrong about the cookies. During the “trial” the cookies were removed from Il Bacio. There might have been cookies at the buffet, but removing them from Il Bacio is what stirred up the storm.
Celebrity used to be premium, now the only thing that is still premium is the price. The buffets were once the best at sea. Of course, no one starves, but what we were offered on our last voyages was mostly nothing more than a loveless compilation like in a canteen. In addition, ridiculous prices for the beverage packages. I don't need 5 portions of lobster, but when prices go up, it's unreasonable to downgrade the service.
The fact they have a full campaign to get social media influencers to push a final decision and transparency on many items says it all. They really need to adopt the usage of focus groups before they make a series of foot faults.
Good summary thanks. My concern is the drop in quality, quantity and options in the main dining room. There is mention of most meals coming with mashed potatoes, a green and carrots. Sounds like monotonous and boring pub grub, not a relaxed luxury experience.
I really dislike the idea of discontinuing the gratuities. Mainly because the person affected the most is the employee. I’m pretty sure they did not mention giving their employees raises. This will have an impact on the staff. Some of us are very generous, tippers, and continually tip around the ship, even after we have paid the included gratuities. However, many do not. And I also found it interesting that Celebrity said that they noticed a large uptick in people taking the cruise only option. They seemed to imply it was because of the gratuities. I’m betting it was to eliminate the cost of a drink package. Just my opinion from the outside looking in. Thank you for sharing this information and getting it to us so quickly.🥰
Absolutely feels weird, but you are correct! Some may be those not wanting to pay for Drink Package and/or Wi-Fi but no matter what we hope people still pay their gratuities. 🤞🏽
@@mikebilon8208 agreed, and if it’s a daily charge on the ship, then what is the difference between the prepaid gratuities or paying by the day once on the ship? It’s like cutting off the top of the cloth and sewing it to the bottom. It’s still the same length of cloth. I much prefer having that zero balance once I am on the ship. 🤷♀️
Isn’t there an option to still pre-pay gratuities before sailing? Other cruise lines that include tips allow you to take them off. I keep prepaid gratuities and reward those I feel deserve it one my own
We didn’t have a drinks package or Wi-Fi but gratuity was added to our account every day at $36 per couple, every drink we bought had added gratuity and we left our lovely room attendant money every evening. Our bill at the end was minimal( $254 as we had $250 onboard credit which covered gratuity) as we spent a good part of the day on land.
I call BS. I saw the menu and Lobster was gone. Portions have gotten smaller. Dinner service in the buffet is a skeleton of what it once was. This is their attempt of walking back some of the resistance. Whitewashing. If you want to buy it, so be it, but Celebrity just took a massive hit in my opinion. We've been exclusively loyal to them, not so much anymore.
Yeah I’m with you here. We were on equinox in June when they first started testing all the new MDR changes and the lobster was 100% gone and no longer included. Along with an absolutely atrocious menu. Really hoping that menu doesn’t stick cause it was some of the worst dining I’ve had on a cruise. We sail exclusively with celebrity and the changes are all fairly discouraging. We love celebrity because of the always included package. In fact we typically justified celebrity over royal because of the always included. With gratuities no longer being included I don’t think that value is there anymore. We have a coco cay cruise booked on beyond next summer and I’m really hoping these changes in the MDR menu are walked back.
We were on Edge last week. Never saw any of the butler team, we always knew our Butler, and they knew us. On chic theatre night, no one recognized us to sit In the reserved area. Our butler always greeted us. No little appetizers in the room. When I requested, just got salami cheese, and Crackers. We have been loyal, may have a look at NCL.
Fully agree. Have read accounts of a call with TAs that suggested they were aggressively defensive. The current management does not seem to be able to be trusted with providing a quality product for a fair price. They have been making cutbacks all year, impacting customers that reserved cruises and then canceling them without price protection as a money grab, and worse. Meanwhile new President is in hiding and not showing she cares about hospitality. Plus constant promotional games.
I was on the "cookie cruise." Laughable, the sign stayed up less than four hours. :-) Celebrity's biggest problems, when it comes to changes, is they suck at public relations. They can't seem to see the other side of the change, the perception of the customer. They end up having to do a "post bad PR explanation. That's never good. Hey, Celebrity...40 years in PR and I'm available. My Celebrity clients have noticed a reduction in the product and have started jumping to Oceania.
Maybe Celebrity just needs to collaborate with DoubleTree Hotels. Somehow they manage to have tasty hot chocolate chip cookies available and included in the rate. 🍪
So basically they are just increasing the price of the all included because I will be shocked if the price goes down by the cost of gratuities. We already took Celebrity off our list when the cutbacks took them down to less than a premium line.
This is a sneaky way to pass on a price increase to customers. The price of the cruise will not drop by the dollar amount of the gratuity and the OBCs. They have shifted costs to the consumer while leaving the cruise fare essentially the same. We’ve got to be smarter than to just believe whatever the cruise representative tells us on a phone call. A healthy dose of skepticism in relation to “new offerings” by RCL would be wise in my opinion.
I find it distasteful having to take on the emotional burden of ensuring the servers get paid fairly. That transaction should be between the server and the employer. I don't tip the grocer or my mechanic or the Home Depot guy. It's soft extortion.
Thank you for this timely update, Jordan! I can’t help worry, however, that new management is making Celebrity feel more like Royal Caribbean. I hope that doesn’t come to pass!
We believe today was a great success in keeping All Included available as we wouldn’t want to see All Included go away. We love seeing more in flexibility for those in AquaClass now through Cruise Only Rates! 🥳
As a loyal fan of Celebrity, I was pleased to hear your comments following your meeting with the Celebrity exec. Your succinct and informative approach to responding to what started as a myriad of rumors is very much appreciated. I just subscribed to your channel - hoping you get to 50K soon.
@@JJCruiseguys. Be careful with your credibility. Let celebrity speak for themselves. High level TA exec at Celebrity left with LLP. Does not bode well. Have they done anything to gain trust with customers or potential customers? What is it? They can't even explain the cookiegate or the new fee structure and Cruisehive had to change an article when they realized they couldn't even understand it.
Based on our call yesterday we believe the power of social media can make things very unclear. The cookiegate is a great example- it was a very simple trial for a new offering that spun way out of control. A cruise line should be able to offer something (in addition) to their offerings and it shouldn’t be a scandal. We were just repeating info from the cruise line directly.
@@JJCruisefor the thousands we pay extra for cruising with celebrity I think it’s highly unlikely they are losing money by charging for a “warm” cookie! That’s a load of bs. Please don’t fall for their schemes. If you want to maintain your credibility with loyal followers listen to the voices of those of us telling you our experiences not those people making bank and taking no accountability. Just my thoughts.
Thanks for all of the info and I don't like tip are being removed due to this gives people more of a chance to not pay the tips and the crew deserves those tips
Why does the crew automatically deserve those tips though? Why does just doing your job deserve a tip? Tipping in the US is described more as a charity program than a reward for service above and beyond. Right, guilt trip to tip well because the job itself doesn't pay well, hence tips for charity. In general for cruises we are old fashioned and tip in cash as we go hoping the crew member gets more out of the deal since they can control what they report as received.
Getting really tired of the Nickel & diming of all Cruise lines. They used to be a deal over a 4 or 5 star resort. Now that gap is much closer or in some cases not there at all. Makes me rethink where I spend my vacation $. Thanks for all the great content! You two do an amazing job !!
I feel the same. It cheapens the experience greatly. Ever since I booked, I feel they have been trying to upsell me on just about everything. It leave a very bad taste in my mouth. Made me want to just cancel the whole cruise.
Thank you for creating this video, but sorry, but you are inaccurate about the Butlers. We were on the Edge 2 weeks ago in a Sky Suite, and it was the last cruise for our dedicated Butler. He was offered a choice - lose his job on Celebrity or transition to work in the restaurants. He was not offered the chance to work on the "Retreat Butler Team". He chose to keep his job and started to work on board the ship in one of the restaurants.
I stayed in aqua class in July and it was NEVER communicated to anyone that you needed to “request” canapés. We were supposed to have aromatherapy, daily sparkling wine, canapés, etc. While our cabin attendant was excellent keeping our cabin clean and tidy and refilling water, bringing us sparkling water on day one, we never were told anything about requesting a thing. We almost felt bad asking for anything because he worked so hard and had many many cabins to attend to and was always smiling. To me this says they need more staff, and either communicate to their cabin attendants this information so they in turn can communicate it to us, or who knows…maybe they never did tell them anything. Maybe they just took them away and we’re waiting to see if anyone would start complaining. Seems like a very ignorant marketing strategy but then again with all the changes happening I can see it. I think conveying all this info you have to us today is excellent and I know I appreciate it, I just don’t buy the BS that may have been fed to those of you on that call.
We just stayed in our first Aquaclass last week. We did not ever know canapés were an option. We never got them. We were never asked if we wanted them or told they were an option. Would have been nice to know that was available per request. Wonder what else we paid for but did not know we needed to ask for…
Thanks for the info. Not convinced at all with the explanations they gave... They just sound like they wanted to start a fire and didn't know how to avoid a disaster after that. So I'll keep to my decission: after a very bad cruise with them a month ago, bye bye Celebrity. My "hose" (wallet) doesn't have more water for their "fire" (cutbacks).
We recently booked our first Celebrity cruise for January 2024. We bought the wifi/gratuities/drink package mainly because of the incremental increase over the cost of gratuities alone. We’ll have to see the prices of future packages, but since I generally don’t drink much alcohol and we can easily forego wifi for a week it’s unlikely we’d buy a package in the future.
To add to my previous comment. This new CEO has to feel really good about herself right about now. Like all new executives, she came on with a whirlwind of ideas to save money and make an impression while everyone of her ideas have ended up in the latrine. How does that make us consumers feel moving forward. Think she's learned anything or that she's going to go back to the drawing board and try to refine her ideas to make them more successful.. GOODBYE CELEBRITY!
Good points, here. One thing I have learned during a 35+ year career - when you first come into a C job, don't do anything but listen and learn. Tread very lightly. Only later and after securing a consensus start implementing changes.
I feel like you were on a different call than I was. I have never once had a client tell me they didn’t want the gratuities included. In fact, we were often able to make adding the All Included package make sense BECAUSE OF the gratuities. So now people pay the same as they paid before PLUS they pay gratuities. Why didn’t they even bother changing the name of the promo? So ridiculous. 😂
She stated there will be repricing in Oct (and it won’t be the same price as before). We didn’t state that we prefer the tips be removed, we are just sharing the facts that were stated on that call.
@@JJCruise sure. I understand your position. I’m in a similar position. But if you’ve been doing this for a while you’ll also recall when they switched to Good, Better, Best. And then Always Included because customers preferred to have it all bundled. Then they said people didn’t like not being able to unbundle so they went to All Included and promised that that was the pricing system moving forward. 😂 I am not even a little convinced that they will reduce prices accordingly. But even worse, they aren’t honoring group contracts for rooms that are named after Oct 31. I understand that you have to walk a fine line, but this isn’t people overreacting to rumors. If you saw what they thought they could get away with for groups yesterday then you should be pretty skeptical about this. This isn’t a positive thing in any way and it’s ok to admit that.
We are reporting the facts and the facts are that Celebrity has kept the New All Included Perks for Groups as well. We understand that rumor was different yesterday, but that is not fact today. Also, what cruise line isn’t trying to recoup money right now from Covid? Perfect example, Princess Cruises just changed their packages drastically AND didn’t grandfather anyone in. That is something to complain about (in our opinion). We believe Celebrity is doing the same as every other cruise line which is finding ways to make adjustments to current offerings while keeping customer satisfaction high. Though change is never easy, we believe the changes announced today are by far better than some other cruise lines’ recent changes that have caused uproar amongst loyal cruisers. That said, it’s okay to disagree. In fact, if you are a Travel Agent you can push clients elsewhere if you really believe the changes are worse than on other lines. We won’t be, as we find these changes to be reasonable in scope and not the large issue some online are looking to make it. But once again, just our two cents. 😉
@@JJCruiseThe Celebrity change management communications was, is, head over heels better than Princess. Off topic, we have sailed Princess 36 times and are amazed how they put their foot in their mouth. Excellent communications and grandfathering from Celebrity 🙂
Sounds like Celebrity is hoping we are stupid enough to swallow the koolaid. Of course many people are booking non inclusive fares, they can’t afford the inclusive fare. Prices have risen significantly and this is one way to keep the cost down.
We sailed on the Equinox in 2019 with the Concierge rate. One thing surprised me about the afternoon canape service was there seemed to be an abundance of sushi on ours throughout the week. Personally, I love sushi, but my husband does not. Also, we weren't always onboard at 3pm when they were delivered, so the platter sat out at room temperature for an hour sometimes. I would rather the platter be smaller and put in the fridge rather than left out on the counter. Or have the canapes be room temperature stable.
We’ve really enjoyed our Celebrity cruises and always sail in suites but after looking at the latest suite pricing in the Caribbean for winter 2025 we’ve decided to give our business to Viking. For the cruises we priced out the cost per day in a Sky Suite is the same as a Penthouse Verandah on Viking with a much less crowded ship, higher crew/guest ratio and higher quality food. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea (smaller ships with fewer bars/venues/shows etc) but for us we just love being out on the ocean on an uncrowned beautiful ship and don’t need entertainment.
Everything you say here, makes reasonable sense to me! I always cruise in a Celebrity or above suite, so if I have to ask them to include grats now, no biggie. The only negative I can see (and I hope I'm wrong) is the tip removers on board, jeez that drives me crazy. Thanks for the very informative video.
Funny, the people that don't remove the automatic gratuities drive me crazy. If these were actually for our convenience there would be an opt-in process and not automatic which favors the cruise lines controlling those funds. It is more convenient for us to tip as we go in cash for services rendered and let the cruise lines pay their staff.
Thank you for your time in sharing the information. We're doing out last Celebrity cruise in September for Alaska on the tired worn-out Solstice that was supposed to be refurbished in 22. It's shabby as seen in your suite story as you are well aware. We are booked in aft aqua but expecting the worst as we did the Eclipse last November in New Zealand. She's also a shadow of her old life. Yet the prices on Celebrity go up and up whilst the standards go down and we're priced out for the Edge class. We're moving over to smaller options where everything is included . Such a shame as loyalty to a brand or lifestyle philosophy is no longer valued by the company.😢
2k plus a day for a suite room that looks 20 years old makes no sense. No one would stay at a hotel on land if the room hadn't been refreshed since the 2000s (maybe designed in the 90s) at the prices Celebrity charges and the quality provided. It would probably be debadged if it had a top brand affiliation. Recent video by JJ Cruise showed an ancient looking room.
We're happy to spend the money on quality, which the Edge has. We wdid back to back on her in March 2019 and loved it but pricing has reached levels of absurdity especially when you have to add on so many extras with specialty dining, onboard events and the inevitable shopping. Yes, that's a choice but who can say no? As for the shore excursions, they are now out of control! That's why we've decided to go over to Silverseas. At least you can see upfront what you're spending on
We booked always included on my next 2 cruises, one in Sept and one next Sept. Thank goodness we got it before Celebrity jacked the price up. When the cruiselines change things it is always to take away or add cost! Thanks for the skinny on the facts!
I’m a long time oil Celebrity cruiser. I have a few problems with all the items you mentioned, except for the fact that gratuities will no longer be included in the package. I’m not sure that makes sense for Celebrity to do that. I think there’s going to be some backlash.
Good thing we already booked our Alaska cruise on Celebrity Edge for May 2024 in the Sky suite before this major gratuity change. We have cruised with Princess, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Disney before; however, this will be our first time on Celebrity and really looking forward to it. For us, cruising is all about the sailing, relaxing and going to the different destinations.
Is princess better quailty food than royal carribean? Going on the princess discovery next week to Alaska it'll be our first time on princess but been on royal carribean a few times
To be honest, we have not cruised since an our B2B Mediterranean Transatlantic cruise on Allure in 2015. When we cruise, we choose the best ship for where we want to go. I’m 2010 we went on a land and sea with Princess aboard the Coral Princess. We chose Princess because it goes to Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay, while most other ships only go to Dawes Glacier. We were told by our TA that Princess does it right and it did. For our Mediterranean Transatlantic, we chose RC Allure because we love the ship and RC. Again, the trip was wonderful. We are choosing the Crown Princess now because it is the only ship that does the itinerary that we want for the 16 day TransPacific Hawaii cruise. Also, we decided to give Celebrity a try for the Alaska cruise since we are only doing the cruise. Unfortunately, since the cruising has opened up, I have heard good and bad about all the ships lately; however, everyone is different with their perception of the cruise. I say just enjoy the cruise for the sailing, relaxing, beautiful destinations and making many cherished memories. You will have an amazing time
As elites on celebrity, fact is cutbacks are real and noticeable regardless of the "fluff" that the company throws out there thru all their media connections.
We sail in Sky suites and have never had a problem with the butler service. We shall see what happens in December for our first cruise without the dedicated butler. If the team can still arrange for my morning mimosas and coffee, then I have nothing to complain about as far as this change. As for the gratuity change, are they lowering their prices for us having to pay the gratuities? I hardly think so. This has me jumping ship in the 2024.
The VP did a great job because you have been conned. I just returned from a 12 day Japan Celebrity cruise. Cookies were almost impossible to find. Hot or otherwise. Eventually found a cooky jar at Bacio.
That’s strange and may just be regional as we have been on two different Celebrity ships since posting this and cookies were at Al Bacio and buffet everyday. 🤔
I think you either drank the Kool-Aid or the VP of Sales used the Jedi mind trick on you ("These are not the droids you're looking for.."). Cookiegate and Pizzagate are moves right out of the politician's playbook. What do you do when you're planing a bold move? Leak it, watch how the masses react, then walk it back. "No, no we're not going to charge for all pizzas" Then you implement a scaled down approach. In a few months watch for 'specialty pizzas' to have an upcharge just like the lobster and filet in the MDR. The VP of Sales is peeing on our legs and telling us it's raining. Removing butler service is not going be better. Did they hire more people to assemble this new team? No. They gave the cabin attendants more work. And how is removing the gratuities from All-Included more economical? Isn't there a daily gratuity charge on your bill anyway? It's not like people can opt out of gratuities, can they?
Great video I have never sailed with celebrity but I would like to try them one day, but I was laughing my ass off every time you mispronounced the word canapes 🤣 not being mean I promise we all have that one word once in awhile we pronounce wrong it was just funny hearing it so many times LOL
Very informative video and thank you Jordan. I just came off of a Celebrity Cruise and one person in our party ordered a second lobster tail dinner and I believe it was charged to the room account (it was not free). I just wish to let everyone know about this possibility you could be charged for an additional meal. Please inquire with the dining staff on this possibility.
I had no clue what he was trying to say when he was talking about canapés. Jordon, it is pronounced can (like a tin can) ap (think computer app) and finally plays (again think the first letter of the English alphabet). Put it all together and you have canapés.
We didn’t have drink/Wi-Fi package on our recent edge trip, we’re from the UK and the all included package was only a available when we originally booked the cruise in February, gratuity was added to our account every day at $18 per person plus any drinks we had had gratuity on top. We found it better for us as we could buy a bottle of wine from the bar and sit on our balcony, this was far more economical than buying per glass! We had all day on land so a drinks package would be a waste of money for us.
Thank you! Sounds like good sense! I wish the American cruise lines had some of the tiered drink packages, with beer and wine, for lighter drinkers as some of the European lines do. Their package isn’t good for me either, only drink wine and an occasional beer . I don’t want to feel like I have to drink every day just to get my money out of the package.
Tanx for factually laying to rest the rumors. I'm impressed that they have grandfathered the chages along with a month to book the current services not like Princess. 👍
Absolutely outraged about removing tips in retreat. I am sure we will either haeto add on before, or they will bill us anyway on our account. I read it was going to be more for suites $23 a day so it looks like the trip is cheaper but then you gotta add on the tips later. They are not giving me the option of saying I’m not happy with my service I’m not tipping. Those tips usually include the tips on the drinks as well, next thing they do will probably be changing the drinking packages and gratuities. The prices of sky suites are going up dramatically since I booked my four for next year. This will probably be the end of Celebrity for me especially if the price keeps going up, and now I have to add gratuities.
This was great info, thank you, but really Celebrity should have made this type of announcement (or clarification) themselves before their loyal customers started ranting on social media. I've seen so much complaining and "I'll find another cruise line" speak that could have been avoided had they been proactive in their communication. Even now, it seems Celebrity is depending on travel agents like yourselves to quell the furor.
We believe more info is coming soon, but TA’s get the info first to help their clients prior to clients finding out this info elsewhere. (Whether good or bad) ☺️
The problem with no longer having prepaid gratuities included in the All Included package is that Celebrity didn’t offset the price thus you are paying more if you book an All Included package and then pay for gratuities.
I just cruised Celebrity in October and can say first hand the changes were not communicated and thus we did not enjoy this experience as we had in the past. We Always have a suite on previous sailings and we’re happy to spend the money for the service. On the last sailing we did not see the butler until the last evening of the cruise. Therefore we did not know we could ask for the canopy’s. Also when we called for assistance the room steward did take care of us but was new and we felt bad that he had so many responsibilities. We did not tip the butler but tipped the room steward very well.
Thx for this. I am not happy about the tips now not being included with the drinks package. Celebrity is a great cruise line but they seem to be getting uppity as their prices have risen dramatically so much that I doubt we will be able to afford another. Also, I don’t like their booking procedure that when I look at a cruise online and I get to the end of the booking process, there is an additional price if I want a refundable deposit this is terrible and I will not book a cruise under those conditions so it’s back to Princess for us.
Interesting 🤔 going on the Appex next August in aqura class, if they don't provide-meet expectations, I'll revert back to princess or RC, no skin of my back, similar cruises with them from the uk@ a grand cheaper 🎉
Whew, I have my 1st Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Constellation in 30 days and was worried that my pre-paid package would change… thank you for the information… one less thing to stress about prior to my once in a lifetime bucket list Greek cruise ❤❤❤
Removing auto-tips does not remove your obligation to pay them. Tipping, whether prepaid or not, is still expected. It would be nice to have the all-inclusive option remain all-inclusive, but I'm fine paying them directly IF THE OVERALL COST ISN"T HIGHER. I suspect this may be a pitch to raise prices without, you know, actually raising prices.
Service score is going down so the response is to eliminate that service item - aka the Butlers 😂 Canapés being changed because of food waste - maybe there weren’t good? But again let’s have it go away unless requested to hide a poor score maybe? I am reminded of major cities like Atlanta. When a specific neighborhood or streets gets high national crime rate scores - they just change the street names for 3 years until the bad stats catch back up 😂😂😂 same concept.
Love this video. Hubby and I love Celebrity and don't book anything else. I Love Love Love AquaSpa and he goes along (yes, dear). I think the canapes were wasted and glad they made the call to have them delivered if you wanted them. I enjoyed the canapes but could see that food was wasted. I did love the gratuities being included so that all workers on the ship benefitted. We always brought more money to tip our cabin stewart, a bartender, etc. but after 10/1/23, we will have to budget more for the crew. ? what happens to the crew that you don't see ? they work as hard as everyone else. we are grandfathered in for 4 cruises and hope the gratuity package returns for the crew we never see but makes our cruise a great one. thanks for this presentation. so glad you spoke to the source.
Many people like the "no perks" because they want to stiff the staff. So my sympathies to the staff. In the old days tips were never included and we tipped in envelopes at the end of the cruise, but it's not the old days anymore. People will think handing the staff a $20 at the end of the cruise is good enough. Glad no smoking, vaping, etc anywhere on the ship except the few designated areas.
Thank you for sticking for the crew! The crew are mostly really great, work super hard and are not paid an equitable wage, they depend on the gratuities. I do think it should be a percentage of your fare, rather than a flat rate. It really isn’t optional, it’s part of the cost of cruising and the money is divided among the crew, many of whom you do not see, but who work hard to serve you!
Just watching this. Thank you! From reading comments it seems as the perspective of many is one of “change averse”. Everything changes over time. An individual can only control their reaction-chill - you are on vacation 🎉🎉🎉
Hey Jordan, I didn’t hear you mention the lower food quality and reduced selection in the MDRs. The new menus went into effect in the last month with much less choice of apps and mains. This isn’t the upcharge items, this is the rest of the menu. Was this covered in the call?
Yes, I watched the whole video to see how the Celebrity executive addressed the school cafeteria quality of the MDR food. If they did, Jordan didn’t address it.
Jury is still out as far as I am concerned regarding the deletion of tips in the AI bundle. Will the cruise fare be decreased by the $ value of the tips? Call me jaded, but I doubt it. I look as this “enhancement” as another back door cost increase. My neighbors just returned from Celebrity Solstice Alaska cruise, which they took based on my recommendation and they were very disappointed with the quality/selection of the MDR food. We were on same cruise end of May and the food in MDR was very good then. I really hope the bean counters read the surveys and make some changes to the “new” MDR menus before the loyal Celebrity guests move to other cruise options. I am Elite Plus and if I want school cafeteria food, then I will cruise on NCL. After today’s announcement, I am shopping for my next cruise and for the first time looking at Viking Ocean and Oceania first over automatically looking only at Celebrity.
I’m not sure if any of us are going to be able to afford Celebrity. I just got a promo for next summers Med on the Ascent. 12 nights Aqua Class $12000. Frightening.
I just looked at a 12 night Med cruise for May 27th. $42,600 for a regular sky suite. This is an outrageous price. It was like $250,000 for the top suite. Just crazy! Don't be surprised if you looked up the Aqua suite now for that particular cruise because it' probably even more then the $12,000. Just insane pricing.😡
On my Celebrity cruise a week ago, I was quoted 7 nights in a Sky Suite in the Caribbean on Ascent in the Fall for $10k. My week in the Med was just over $7k. Nope.
We requested first day on the cruise no canapés, hate food waste, don’t eat meat, cream or chocolate covered fruits so it would be wasted, would prefer bottled water. Glad to have a TA to add what we want , gratuity, Wi-Fi etc. Thanks for information
november will be my first cruise ever and am learning new things everyday - i appreciate the posts and videos but will not know about a lot of what i have read/seen until i have my own experiences - but one area i dont see much of is anything relating to accessible experiences - thanks so much for explaining the upcoming changes
Im glad tips arent automatically included since 42% of it goes to upper management anyways!! The money I give is to those who directly perform a service to me not some clown sitting in a remote office somewhere booking my cruise or searching something on a document..
Thanks - so often it pays to wait a bit when the rumors are flying to get facts. We have sailed 2 seven day cruises this summer and there was lobster (though we don't eat it). The menu is less varied but we found food every meal and the portions were more reasonable to me so less waste. Glad to hear we can get Aqua without AI.
Very helpful video. Celebrity could have done a better job getting out in front of this proactively. Goodness knows I get a daily email from them on cruise promotions.
NCL all inclusive deals beats them all hands down, beautiful ships, open dining, great restaurant choices, wonderful food, great staff and ships, tried others but always go back, great deals too if you keep abreast of pricing, got a superb deal in the Haven a couple of cruises ago, fabulous!
@@nicolette3436 Hi am sure your cruise will be great as Gary indicated it’s often down to personal taste, enjoy yourself I’m sure it will be fab but don’t exclude NCL in the future they’re not spoken about much but I’m very fussy and have been very pleased each time I’ve chosen them, been on the Bliss, Encore, Viva etc and if you can push the boat out 😁 the Haven experience was fab.
I am not a fan of Celebrity cruises but I loved the all included option, and tipped extra when I was wowed by the service. I am hoping Royal Caribbean would adopt it, but now you are saying it is going away. I believe some people want it separated so they do not have to pay the tips ( I hope I am wrong). I don’t think it’s a good idea, but it is whatever!
Well I’m really glad that I got grandfathered into the Always Included package with gratuities. I personally like the fact that everything has already been taken care of and I won’t be saddled with a bill at the end of my cruise. Of course there’s always the prepaid gratuity option but still, I like the fact that I get classic drink, basic WiFi AND gratuities all included.
We went on our first cruise ever and chose Celebrity. We found the food to be the best part(except the nasty canapés). We were in a Prime concierge room and never once saw a concierge. The last day I asked our neighbor what “Prime Concierge” got me and she said, “Screwed, honey. It got you screwed.” So, so, so many things wrong with our trip. But I will say the staff was amazing. They deserve the tips. I hope they don’t screwed with the new tip deal. Thanks for a great, informative video.
Prime refers to the location of your room. Your Prime Concierge room would have been in a better location on the ship. Any Concierge stateroom give you access to a concierge, but you go the concierge desk or call them, if you need their services.
Thanks for all the great information. So glad they didn’t take the butlers away from sky suites. Since those are the only suites that are accessible, we can only book a sky suite when we decide to.
I am glad you dug into the info before posting and not just blast the internet with false information, I am on Apex right now. My cabin attendant told me next cruise the chocolates on the pillow will only be there first and last night plus chic night. I really don't care...I really would have liked the warm cookies..that sounded good.
Wrong about the cookies. During the “trial” the cookies were removed from Il Bacio. There might have been cookies at the buffet, but removing them from Il Bacio is what stirred up the storm.
“Can-ah-pays”….I had a moment before I realized what you were referring to 😂
Celebrity used to be premium, now the only thing that is still premium is the price. The buffets were once the best at sea. Of course, no one starves, but what we were offered on our last voyages was mostly nothing more than a loveless compilation like in a canteen. In addition, ridiculous prices for the beverage packages. I don't need 5 portions of lobster, but when prices go up, it's unreasonable to downgrade the service.
The fact they have a full campaign to get social media influencers to push a final decision and transparency on many items says it all. They really need to adopt the usage of focus groups before they make a series of foot faults.
They don't care. If they did they would explain all this, stand by their product, and up their game.
Good summary thanks. My concern is the drop in quality, quantity and options in the main dining room. There is mention of most meals coming with mashed potatoes, a green and carrots. Sounds like monotonous and boring pub grub, not a relaxed luxury experience.
I really dislike the idea of discontinuing the gratuities. Mainly because the person affected the most is the employee. I’m pretty sure they did not mention giving their employees raises. This will have an impact on the staff. Some of us are very generous, tippers, and continually tip around the ship, even after we have paid the included gratuities. However, many do not. And I also found it interesting that Celebrity said that they noticed a large uptick in people taking the cruise only option. They seemed to imply it was because of the gratuities. I’m betting it was to eliminate the cost of a drink package. Just my opinion from the outside looking in. Thank you for sharing this information and getting it to us so quickly.🥰
Absolutely feels weird, but you are correct! Some may be those not wanting to pay for Drink Package and/or Wi-Fi but no matter what we hope people still pay their gratuities. 🤞🏽
IMHO I think we are going to pay the gratuities separately before the cruise or a daily charge on thr ship.🤑
@@mikebilon8208 agreed, and if it’s a daily charge on the ship, then what is the difference between the prepaid gratuities or paying by the day once on the ship? It’s like cutting off the top of the cloth and sewing it to the bottom. It’s still the same length of cloth. I much prefer having that zero balance once I am on the ship. 🤷♀️
Isn’t there an option to still pre-pay gratuities before sailing? Other cruise lines that include tips allow you to take them off. I keep prepaid gratuities and reward those I feel deserve it one my own
We didn’t have a drinks package or Wi-Fi but gratuity was added to our account every day at $36 per couple, every drink we bought had added gratuity and we left our lovely room attendant money every evening. Our bill at the end was minimal( $254 as we had $250 onboard credit which covered gratuity) as we spent a good part of the day on land.
I call BS. I saw the menu and Lobster was gone. Portions have gotten smaller. Dinner service in the buffet is a skeleton of what it once was. This is their attempt of walking back some of the resistance. Whitewashing. If you want to buy it, so be it, but Celebrity just took a massive hit in my opinion. We've been exclusively loyal to them, not so much anymore.
Yeah I’m with you here. We were on equinox in June when they first started testing all the new MDR changes and the lobster was 100% gone and no longer included. Along with an absolutely atrocious menu. Really hoping that menu doesn’t stick cause it was some of the worst dining I’ve had on a cruise. We sail exclusively with celebrity and the changes are all fairly discouraging. We love celebrity because of the always included package. In fact we typically justified celebrity over royal because of the always included. With gratuities no longer being included I don’t think that value is there anymore. We have a coco cay cruise booked on beyond next summer and I’m really hoping these changes in the MDR menu are walked back.
I was on the Solstice last week and they had included lobster on the 2nd chic night.
We were on Edge last week. Never saw any of the butler team, we always knew our Butler, and they knew us. On chic theatre night, no one recognized us to sit In the reserved area. Our butler always greeted us. No little appetizers in the room. When I requested, just got salami cheese, and Crackers. We have been loyal, may have a look at NCL.
Fully agree. Have read accounts of a call with TAs that suggested they were aggressively defensive. The current management does not seem to be able to be trusted with providing a quality product for a fair price. They have been making cutbacks all year, impacting customers that reserved cruises and then canceling them without price protection as a money grab, and worse. Meanwhile new President is in hiding and not showing she cares about hospitality. Plus constant promotional games.
@@tonytiangcowas second chic night after 7 days? Most cuties are 7 days or less. So, no lobster.
I was on the "cookie cruise." Laughable, the sign stayed up less than four hours. :-) Celebrity's biggest problems, when it comes to changes, is they suck at public relations. They can't seem to see the other side of the change, the perception of the customer. They end up having to do a "post bad PR explanation. That's never good. Hey, Celebrity...40 years in PR and I'm available. My Celebrity clients have noticed a reduction in the product and have started jumping to Oceania.
Maybe Celebrity just needs to collaborate with DoubleTree Hotels. Somehow they manage to have tasty hot chocolate chip cookies available and included in the rate. 🍪
Interesting. I’ve been a Celebrity loyalist, but my 2024 and 2025 trips are either on Oceania or Regent.
So basically they are just increasing the price of the all included because I will be shocked if the price goes down by the cost of gratuities. We already took Celebrity off our list when the cutbacks took them down to less than a premium line.
This is a sneaky way to pass on a price increase to customers. The price of the cruise will not drop by the dollar amount of the gratuity and the OBCs. They have shifted costs to the consumer while leaving the cruise fare essentially the same. We’ve got to be smarter than to just believe whatever the cruise representative tells us on a phone call. A healthy dose of skepticism in relation to “new offerings” by RCL would be wise in my opinion.
I find it distasteful having to take on the emotional burden of ensuring the servers get paid fairly. That transaction should be between the server and the employer. I don't tip the grocer or my mechanic or the Home Depot guy. It's soft extortion.
So opt out
..
Thank you for this timely update, Jordan! I can’t help worry, however, that new management is making Celebrity feel more like Royal Caribbean. I hope that doesn’t come to pass!
We believe today was a great success in keeping All Included available as we wouldn’t want to see All Included go away. We love seeing more in flexibility for those in AquaClass now through Cruise Only Rates! 🥳
As a loyal fan of Celebrity, I was pleased to hear your comments following your meeting with the Celebrity exec. Your succinct and informative approach to responding to what started as a myriad of rumors is very much appreciated. I just subscribed to your channel - hoping you get to 50K soon.
Thank you! We really appreciate your feedback and for subscribing to the channel! ☺️🥳
@@JJCruiseguys. Be careful with your credibility. Let celebrity speak for themselves. High level TA exec at Celebrity left with LLP. Does not bode well. Have they done anything to gain trust with customers or potential customers? What is it? They can't even explain the cookiegate or the new fee structure and Cruisehive had to change an article when they realized they couldn't even understand it.
Based on our call yesterday we believe the power of social media can make things very unclear. The cookiegate is a great example- it was a very simple trial for a new offering that spun way out of control. A cruise line should be able to offer something (in addition) to their offerings and it shouldn’t be a scandal. We were just repeating info from the cruise line directly.
@@JJCruisefor the thousands we pay extra for cruising with celebrity I think it’s highly unlikely they are losing money by charging for a “warm” cookie! That’s a load of bs. Please don’t fall for their schemes. If you want to maintain your credibility with loyal followers listen to the voices of those of us telling you our experiences not those people making bank and taking no accountability. Just my thoughts.
@@JJCruise "New offering that spun way out of control"....stop fluffing for Celebrity for the love of God man.😂👍
Thanks for all of the info and I don't like tip are being removed due to this gives people more of a chance to not pay the tips and the crew deserves those tips
We completely agree, but hope this won’t be the case 🤞🏽
I think I deserve a tip also! Love ya!
Why does the crew automatically deserve those tips though? Why does just doing your job deserve a tip? Tipping in the US is described more as a charity program than a reward for service above and beyond. Right, guilt trip to tip well because the job itself doesn't pay well, hence tips for charity. In general for cruises we are old fashioned and tip in cash as we go hoping the crew member gets more out of the deal since they can control what they report as received.
Getting really tired of the Nickel & diming of all Cruise lines. They used to be a deal over a 4 or 5 star resort. Now that gap is much closer or in some cases not there at all. Makes me rethink where I spend my vacation $. Thanks for all the great content! You two do an amazing job !!
I feel the same. It cheapens the experience greatly. Ever since I booked, I feel they have been trying to upsell me on just about everything. It leave a very bad taste in my mouth. Made me want to just cancel the whole cruise.
Thank you for creating this video, but sorry, but you are inaccurate about the Butlers. We were on the Edge 2 weeks ago in a Sky Suite, and it was the last cruise for our dedicated Butler. He was offered a choice - lose his job on Celebrity or transition to work in the restaurants. He was not offered the chance to work on the "Retreat Butler Team". He chose to keep his job and started to work on board the ship in one of the restaurants.
I stayed in aqua class in July and it was NEVER communicated to anyone that you needed to “request” canapés. We were supposed to have aromatherapy, daily sparkling wine, canapés, etc. While our cabin attendant was excellent keeping our cabin clean and tidy and refilling water, bringing us sparkling water on day one, we never were told anything about requesting a thing. We almost felt bad asking for anything because he worked so hard and had many many cabins to attend to and was always smiling. To me this says they need more staff, and either communicate to their cabin attendants this information so they in turn can communicate it to us, or who knows…maybe they never did tell them anything. Maybe they just took them away and we’re waiting to see if anyone would start complaining. Seems like a very ignorant marketing strategy but then again with all the changes happening I can see it. I think conveying all this info you have to us today is excellent and I know I appreciate it, I just don’t buy the BS that may have been fed to those of you on that call.
We just stayed in our first Aquaclass last week. We did not ever know canapés were an option. We never got them. We were never asked if we wanted them or told they were an option. Would have been nice to know that was available per request. Wonder what else we paid for but did not know we needed to ask for…
Same for us in July!
i think canapes are just concierge class.
Thanks for the info. Not convinced at all with the explanations they gave... They just sound like they wanted to start a fire and didn't know how to avoid a disaster after that. So I'll keep to my decission: after a very bad cruise with them a month ago, bye bye Celebrity. My "hose" (wallet) doesn't have more water for their "fire" (cutbacks).
We recently booked our first Celebrity cruise for January 2024. We bought the wifi/gratuities/drink package mainly because of the incremental increase over the cost of gratuities alone. We’ll have to see the prices of future packages, but since I generally don’t drink much alcohol and we can easily forego wifi for a week it’s unlikely we’d buy a package in the future.
We have got the package you mention on our January 2024 cruise from Sydney, so glad we have it
To add to my previous comment. This new CEO has to feel really good about herself right about now. Like all new executives, she came on with a whirlwind of ideas to save money and make an impression while everyone of her ideas have ended up in the latrine. How does that make us consumers feel moving forward. Think she's learned anything or that she's going to go back to the drawing board and try to refine her ideas to make them more successful.. GOODBYE CELEBRITY!
Laura needs to go the way of Bob Chapek, preferably before further degrading the Celebrity brand. Just my two cents.
Many CEO's and CFO's and the like, are also looking to see what "sticks to the wall" in this post pandemic world we all live in.
Good points, here. One thing I have learned during a 35+ year career - when you first come into a C job, don't do anything but listen and learn. Tread very lightly. Only later and after securing a consensus start implementing changes.
@@johncole7533💯 agree 👍 not good at even basic tenets of hospitality. The only wow she is creating are negatives.
I feel like you were on a different call than I was. I have never once had a client tell me they didn’t want the gratuities included. In fact, we were often able to make adding the All Included package make sense BECAUSE OF the gratuities. So now people pay the same as they paid before PLUS they pay gratuities.
Why didn’t they even bother changing the name of the promo? So ridiculous. 😂
She stated there will be repricing in Oct (and it won’t be the same price as before). We didn’t state that we prefer the tips be removed, we are just sharing the facts that were stated on that call.
@@JJCruise sure. I understand your position. I’m in a similar position. But if you’ve been doing this for a while you’ll also recall when they switched to Good, Better, Best. And then Always Included because customers preferred to have it all bundled. Then they said people didn’t like not being able to unbundle so they went to All Included and promised that that was the pricing system moving forward. 😂 I am not even a little convinced that they will reduce prices accordingly. But even worse, they aren’t honoring group contracts for rooms that are named after Oct 31. I understand that you have to walk a fine line, but this isn’t people overreacting to rumors. If you saw what they thought they could get away with for groups yesterday then you should be pretty skeptical about this. This isn’t a positive thing in any way and it’s ok to admit that.
We are reporting the facts and the facts are that Celebrity has kept the New All Included Perks for Groups as well.
We understand that rumor was different yesterday, but that is not fact today.
Also, what cruise line isn’t trying to recoup money right now from Covid? Perfect example, Princess Cruises just changed their packages drastically AND didn’t grandfather anyone in. That is something to complain about (in our opinion).
We believe Celebrity is doing the same as every other cruise line which is finding ways to make adjustments to current offerings while keeping customer satisfaction high. Though change is never easy, we believe the changes announced today are by far better than some other cruise lines’ recent changes that have caused uproar amongst loyal cruisers.
That said, it’s okay to disagree. In fact, if you are a Travel Agent you can push clients elsewhere if you really believe the changes are worse than on other lines.
We won’t be, as we find these changes to be reasonable in scope and not the large issue some online are looking to make it.
But once again, just our two cents. 😉
@@JJCruiseThe Celebrity change management communications was, is, head over heels better than Princess. Off topic, we have sailed Princess 36 times and are amazed how they put their foot in their mouth. Excellent communications and grandfathering from Celebrity 🙂
Sounds like Celebrity is hoping we are stupid enough to swallow the koolaid. Of course many people are booking non inclusive fares, they can’t afford the inclusive fare. Prices have risen significantly and this is one way to keep the cost down.
We sailed on the Equinox in 2019 with the Concierge rate. One thing surprised me about the afternoon canape service was there seemed to be an abundance of sushi on ours throughout the week. Personally, I love sushi, but my husband does not. Also, we weren't always onboard at 3pm when they were delivered, so the platter sat out at room temperature for an hour sometimes. I would rather the platter be smaller and put in the fridge rather than left out on the counter. Or have the canapes be room temperature stable.
We’ve really enjoyed our Celebrity cruises and always sail in suites but after looking at the latest suite pricing in the Caribbean for winter 2025 we’ve decided to give our business to Viking. For the cruises we priced out the cost per day in a Sky Suite is the same as a Penthouse Verandah on Viking with a much less crowded ship, higher crew/guest ratio and higher quality food. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea (smaller ships with fewer bars/venues/shows etc) but for us we just love being out on the ocean on an uncrowned beautiful ship and don’t need entertainment.
Everything you say here, makes reasonable sense to me! I always cruise in a Celebrity or above suite, so if I have to ask them to include grats now, no biggie. The only negative I can see (and I hope I'm wrong) is the tip removers on board, jeez that drives me crazy. Thanks for the very informative video.
Funny, the people that don't remove the automatic gratuities drive me crazy. If these were actually for our convenience there would be an opt-in process and not automatic which favors the cruise lines controlling those funds. It is more convenient for us to tip as we go in cash for services rendered and let the cruise lines pay their staff.
Spoken like a very expereinced cheapskate @@robertk4552
Why are Americans so obsesed with tippimg, especually when you're tipping before you get thr serbucr you've already paid for.. odd
Thank you for your time in sharing the information.
We're doing out last Celebrity cruise in September for Alaska on the tired worn-out Solstice that was supposed to be refurbished in 22.
It's shabby as seen in your suite story as you are well aware.
We are booked in aft aqua but expecting the worst as we did the Eclipse last November in New Zealand. She's also a shadow of her old life.
Yet the prices on Celebrity go up and up whilst the standards go down and we're priced out for the Edge class.
We're moving over to smaller options where everything is included .
Such a shame as loyalty to a brand or lifestyle philosophy is no longer valued by the company.😢
2k plus a day for a suite room that looks 20 years old makes no sense. No one would stay at a hotel on land if the room hadn't been refreshed since the 2000s (maybe designed in the 90s) at the prices Celebrity charges and the quality provided. It would probably be debadged if it had a top brand affiliation. Recent video by JJ Cruise showed an ancient looking room.
We're happy to spend the money on quality, which the Edge has. We wdid back to back on her in March 2019 and loved it but pricing has reached levels of absurdity especially when you have to add on so many extras with specialty dining, onboard events and the inevitable shopping.
Yes, that's a choice but who can say no? As for the shore excursions, they are now out of control! That's why we've decided to go over to Silverseas. At least you can see upfront what you're spending on
We booked always included on my next 2 cruises, one in Sept and one next Sept. Thank goodness we got it before Celebrity jacked the price up. When the cruiselines change things it is always to take away or add cost! Thanks for the skinny on the facts!
I’m a long time oil Celebrity cruiser. I have a few problems with all the items you mentioned, except for the fact that gratuities will no longer be included in the package. I’m not sure that makes sense for Celebrity to do that. I think there’s going to be some backlash.
Just opt out ... its not difficult
Good thing we already booked our Alaska cruise on Celebrity Edge for May 2024 in the Sky suite before this major gratuity change. We have cruised with Princess, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Disney before; however, this will be our first time on Celebrity and really looking forward to it. For us, cruising is all about the sailing, relaxing and going to the different destinations.
Is princess better quailty food than royal carribean? Going on the princess discovery next week to Alaska it'll be our first time on princess but been on royal carribean a few times
To be honest, we have not cruised since an our B2B Mediterranean Transatlantic cruise on Allure in 2015. When we cruise, we choose the best ship for where we want to go. I’m 2010 we went on a land and sea with Princess aboard the Coral Princess. We chose Princess because it goes to Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay, while most other ships only go to Dawes Glacier. We were told by our TA that Princess does it right and it did. For our Mediterranean Transatlantic, we chose RC Allure because we love the ship and RC. Again, the trip was wonderful. We are choosing the Crown Princess now because it is the only ship that does the itinerary that we want for the 16 day TransPacific Hawaii cruise. Also, we decided to give Celebrity a try for the Alaska cruise since we are only doing the cruise.
Unfortunately, since the cruising has opened up, I have heard good and bad about all the ships lately; however, everyone is different with their perception of the cruise. I say just enjoy the cruise for the sailing, relaxing, beautiful destinations and making many cherished memories. You will have an amazing time
As elites on celebrity, fact is cutbacks are real and noticeable regardless of the "fluff" that the company throws out there thru all their media connections.
Leave it to JJ Cruise to give us a clear, concise report!!! Thank you Jordan and Jared!!! Ps. I thought it’s pronounced Can-a-peas???????
Your pronunciation is close. It’s CAN-a-PAYS.
We sail in Sky suites and have never had a problem with the butler service. We shall see what happens in December for our first cruise without the dedicated butler. If the team can still arrange for my morning mimosas and coffee, then I have nothing to complain about as far as this change. As for the gratuity change, are they lowering their prices for us having to pay the gratuities? I hardly think so. This has me jumping ship in the 2024.
The VP did a great job because you have been conned.
I just returned from a 12 day Japan Celebrity cruise. Cookies were almost impossible to find. Hot or otherwise. Eventually found a cooky jar at Bacio.
That’s strange and may just be regional as we have been on two different Celebrity ships since posting this and cookies were at Al Bacio and buffet everyday. 🤔
@@JJCruise never found on the Millennium except Bacio. I checked Buffet several times. Not even the Bakery.
I think you either drank the Kool-Aid or the VP of Sales used the Jedi mind trick on you ("These are not the droids you're looking for.."). Cookiegate and Pizzagate are moves right out of the politician's playbook. What do you do when you're planing a bold move? Leak it, watch how the masses react, then walk it back. "No, no we're not going to charge for all pizzas" Then you implement a scaled down approach. In a few months watch for 'specialty pizzas' to have an upcharge just like the lobster and filet in the MDR. The VP of Sales is peeing on our legs and telling us it's raining. Removing butler service is not going be better. Did they hire more people to assemble this new team? No. They gave the cabin attendants more work. And how is removing the gratuities from All-Included more economical? Isn't there a daily gratuity charge on your bill anyway? It's not like people can opt out of gratuities, can they?
Great info…love your positivity….I giggled at your pronunciation of canapés….made my day….it is actually - ka -nuh-peez but you made me smile so much!
Great video I have never sailed with celebrity but I would like to try them one day, but I was laughing my ass off every time you mispronounced the word canapes 🤣 not being mean I promise we all have that one word once in awhile we pronounce wrong it was just funny hearing it so many times LOL
Jared definitely corrected me post video too! 😂
Very informative video and thank you Jordan. I just came off of a Celebrity Cruise and one person in our party ordered a second lobster tail dinner and I believe it was charged to the room account (it was not free). I just wish to let everyone know about this possibility you could be charged for an additional meal. Please inquire with the dining staff on this possibility.
I think it's adorable how you pronounce the word "konopies" 😂
I had no clue what he was trying to say when he was talking about canapés. Jordon, it is pronounced can (like a tin can) ap (think computer app) and finally plays (again think the first letter of the English alphabet). Put it all together and you have canapés.
CAN-a-pays
I am now sailing Celebrity because they do not smoke in casino. It is the only line I know that has no smoking so that is important to me.
We didn’t have drink/Wi-Fi package on our recent edge trip, we’re from the UK and the all included package was only a available when we originally booked the cruise in February, gratuity was added to our account every day at $18 per person plus any drinks we had had gratuity on top. We found it better for us as we could buy a bottle of wine from the bar and sit on our balcony, this was far more economical than buying per glass! We had all day on land so a drinks package would be a waste of money for us.
Thank you! Sounds like good sense! I wish the American cruise lines had some of the tiered drink packages, with beer and wine, for lighter drinkers as some of the European lines do. Their package isn’t good for me either, only drink wine and an occasional beer . I don’t want to feel like I have to drink every day just to get my money out of the package.
tips should be included in base fare
Tanx for factually laying to rest the rumors. I'm impressed that they have grandfathered the chages along with a month to book the current services not like Princess. 👍
Exactly, I booked my first Princess cruise and my steerage, sorry, Standard fare ticket is now Third class with all the cuts. 🙄
Absolutely outraged about removing tips in retreat. I am sure we will either haeto add on before, or they will bill us anyway on our account. I read it was going to be more for suites $23 a day so it looks like the trip is cheaper but then you gotta add on the tips later. They are not giving me the option of saying I’m not happy with my service I’m not tipping. Those tips usually include the tips on the drinks as well, next thing they do will probably be changing the drinking packages and gratuities. The prices of sky suites are going up dramatically since I booked my four for next year. This will probably be the end of Celebrity for me especially if the price keeps going up, and now I have to add gratuities.
This was great info, thank you, but really Celebrity should have made this type of announcement (or clarification) themselves before their loyal customers started ranting on social media. I've seen so much complaining and "I'll find another cruise line" speak that could have been avoided had they been proactive in their communication. Even now, it seems Celebrity is depending on travel agents like yourselves to quell the furor.
We believe more info is coming soon, but TA’s get the info first to help their clients prior to clients finding out this info elsewhere. (Whether good or bad) ☺️
The problem with no longer having prepaid gratuities included in the All Included package is that Celebrity didn’t offset the price thus you are paying more if you book an All Included package and then pay for gratuities.
I just cruised Celebrity in October and can say first hand the changes were not communicated and thus we did not enjoy this experience as we had in the past. We Always have a suite on previous sailings and we’re happy to spend the money for the service. On the last sailing we did not see the butler until the last evening of the cruise. Therefore we did not know we could ask for the canopy’s. Also when we called for assistance the room steward did take care of us but was new and we felt bad that he had so many responsibilities. We did not tip the butler but tipped the room steward very well.
Thx for this. I am not happy about the tips now not being included with the drinks package. Celebrity is a great cruise line but they seem to be getting uppity as their prices have risen dramatically so much that I doubt we will be able to afford another. Also, I don’t like their booking procedure that when I look at a cruise online and I get to the end of the booking process, there is an additional price if I want a refundable deposit this is terrible and I will not book a cruise under those conditions so it’s back to Princess for us.
Interesting 🤔 going on the Appex next August in aqura class, if they don't provide-meet expectations, I'll revert back to princess or RC, no skin of my back, similar cruises with them from the uk@ a grand cheaper 🎉
The canapés are usually weird or didn't taste great. Some were ok, but on the whole it was a waste.
We agree. They weren’t always our preference and often wasted.
They should have upgraded the snacks, not eliminated them or forced a room service charge for what can end up being saltines.
Too many dang kids now on Celebrity. I’m now focusing on Virgin and Viking
I like the tip pré paid. All workers art covered.
Whew, I have my 1st Mediterranean cruise on Celebrity Constellation in 30 days and was worried that my pre-paid package would change… thank you for the information… one less thing to stress about prior to my once in a lifetime bucket list Greek cruise ❤❤❤
Removing auto-tips does not remove your obligation to pay them. Tipping, whether prepaid or not, is still expected. It would be nice to have the all-inclusive option remain all-inclusive, but I'm fine paying them directly IF THE OVERALL COST ISN"T HIGHER. I suspect this may be a pitch to raise prices without, you know, actually raising prices.
Sounds like a crock from X. Painful to watch the decline from such a high pedestal.
Service score is going down so the response is to eliminate that service item - aka the Butlers 😂 Canapés being changed because of food waste - maybe there weren’t good? But again let’s have it go away unless requested to hide a poor score maybe?
I am reminded of major cities like Atlanta. When a specific neighborhood or streets gets high national crime rate scores - they just change the street names for 3 years until the bad stats catch back up 😂😂😂 same concept.
Virgin cruises is looking better and better! I’m no longer loyal to Royal or Celebrity. Let the best deal win!
Love this video. Hubby and I love Celebrity and don't book anything else. I Love Love Love AquaSpa and he goes along (yes, dear). I think the canapes were wasted and glad they made the call to have them delivered if you wanted them. I enjoyed the canapes but could see that food was wasted. I did love the gratuities being included so that all workers on the ship benefitted. We always brought more money to tip our cabin stewart, a bartender, etc. but after 10/1/23, we will have to budget more for the crew. ? what happens to the crew that you don't see ? they work as hard as everyone else. we are grandfathered in for 4 cruises and hope the gratuity package returns for the crew we never see but makes our cruise a great one. thanks for this presentation. so glad you spoke to the source.
We completely agree on the worries of gratuities not going to crew now with people canceling. We hope that won’t be the case! 🤞🏽
Thank you so much for this - it's really very helpful and breaks down everything into clear and concise answers!!
Many people like the "no perks" because they want to stiff the staff. So my sympathies to the staff. In the old days tips were never included and we tipped in envelopes at the end of the cruise, but it's not the old days anymore. People will think handing the staff a $20 at the end of the cruise is good enough. Glad no smoking, vaping, etc anywhere on the ship except the few designated areas.
Thank you for sticking for the crew! The crew are mostly really great, work super hard and are not paid an equitable wage, they depend on the gratuities. I do think it should be a percentage of your fare, rather than a flat rate. It really isn’t optional, it’s part of the cost of cruising and the money is divided among the crew, many of whom you do not see, but who work hard to serve you!
Just watching this. Thank you! From reading comments it seems as the perspective of many is one of “change averse”. Everything changes over time. An individual can only control their reaction-chill - you are on vacation 🎉🎉🎉
Hey Jordan, I didn’t hear you mention the lower food quality and reduced selection in the MDRs. The new menus went into effect in the last month with much less choice of apps and mains. This isn’t the upcharge items, this is the rest of the menu. Was this covered in the call?
Yes, I watched the whole video to see how the Celebrity executive addressed the school cafeteria quality of the MDR food. If they did, Jordan didn’t address it.
Jury is still out as far as I am concerned regarding the deletion of tips in the AI bundle. Will the cruise fare be decreased by the $ value of the tips? Call me jaded, but I doubt it. I look as this “enhancement” as another back door cost increase. My neighbors just returned from Celebrity Solstice Alaska cruise, which they took based on my recommendation and they were very disappointed with the quality/selection of the MDR food. We were on same cruise end of May and the food in MDR was very good then. I really hope the bean counters read the surveys and make some changes to the “new” MDR menus before the loyal Celebrity guests move to other cruise options. I am Elite Plus and if I want school cafeteria food, then I will cruise on NCL. After today’s announcement, I am shopping for my next cruise and for the first time looking at Viking Ocean and Oceania first over automatically looking only at Celebrity.
We are not happy that Celebrity is removing tips from the all-inclusive packages.
I’m not sure if any of us are going to be able to afford Celebrity. I just got a promo for next summers Med on the Ascent. 12 nights Aqua Class $12000. Frightening.
I just looked at a 12 night Med cruise for May 27th. $42,600 for a regular sky suite. This is an outrageous price. It was like $250,000 for the top suite. Just crazy! Don't be surprised if you looked up the Aqua suite now for that particular cruise because it' probably even more then the $12,000. Just insane pricing.😡
On my Celebrity cruise a week ago, I was quoted 7 nights in a Sky Suite in the Caribbean on Ascent in the Fall for $10k. My week in the Med was just over $7k. Nope.
There are too many videos on YT about the butler issue and poor/nonexistent service to believe that Celebrity did not cut back on that.
We requested first day on the cruise no canapés, hate food waste, don’t eat meat, cream or chocolate covered fruits so it would be wasted, would prefer bottled water. Glad to have a TA to add what we want , gratuity, Wi-Fi etc. Thanks for information
november will be my first cruise ever and am learning new things everyday - i appreciate the posts and videos but will not know about a lot of what i have read/seen until i have my own experiences - but one area i dont see much of is anything relating to accessible experiences - thanks so much for explaining the upcoming changes
Curious - has anyone had the "paid" special items like the steak or lobster? How was it?
Im glad tips arent automatically included since 42% of it goes to upper management anyways!! The money I give is to those who directly perform a service to me not some clown sitting in a remote office somewhere booking my cruise or searching something on a document..
Thanks - so often it pays to wait a bit when the rumors are flying to get facts. We have sailed 2 seven day cruises this summer and there was lobster (though we don't eat it). The menu is less varied but we found food every meal and the portions were more reasonable to me so less waste. Glad to hear we can get Aqua without AI.
That’s not how you pronounce canapé. ;-)
Jared told Jordan this after watching 😉
@@JJCruise ❤️
Thank you guys love watching your videos always entertaining and informative ❤
Thanks for watching!! We appreciate it! 🥳
Thank you for clearing up all those rumors. Thank you.
So happy to help! 🥳
Thanks for sharing all of this information.
Very helpful video. Celebrity could have done a better job getting out in front of this proactively. Goodness knows I get a daily email from them on cruise promotions.
NCL all inclusive deals beats them all hands down, beautiful ships, open dining, great restaurant choices, wonderful food, great staff and ships, tried others but always go back, great deals too if you keep abreast of pricing, got a superb deal in the Haven a couple of cruises ago, fabulous!
How much better than Celebrity would you say? I feel awful because I book3d a cruise with them for this October
@@nicolette3436 Hi am sure your cruise will be great as Gary indicated it’s often down to personal taste, enjoy yourself I’m sure it will be fab but don’t exclude NCL in the future they’re not spoken about much but I’m very fussy and have been very pleased each time I’ve chosen them, been on the Bliss, Encore, Viva etc and if you can push the boat out 😁 the Haven experience was fab.
I am not a fan of Celebrity cruises but I loved the all included option, and tipped extra when I was wowed by the service. I am hoping Royal Caribbean would adopt it, but now you are saying it is going away. I believe some people want it separated so they do not have to pay the tips ( I hope I am wrong). I don’t think it’s a good idea, but it is whatever!
Canapé is pronounced just like Canopy. (Can na pees). 😊
Well I’m really glad that I got grandfathered into the Always Included package with gratuities. I personally like the fact that everything has already been taken care of and I won’t be saddled with a bill at the end of my cruise. Of course there’s always the prepaid gratuity option but still, I like the fact that I get classic drink, basic WiFi AND gratuities all included.
Excellent video! Thanks!
Thanks for the great explanation of Celebrity's changes. (especially cookiegate)
Thanks for the info! Looking forward to seeing you guys in March! See Ya!
We can’t wait! 🥳
Child like portions. Food irregular in qualty.
Thanks for setting things straight. Rumor mill was crazy😮
As a travel agent do you get paid only on the base fare?
We went on our first cruise ever and chose Celebrity. We found the food to be the best part(except the nasty canapés). We were in a Prime concierge room and never once saw a concierge. The last day I asked our neighbor what “Prime Concierge” got me and she said, “Screwed, honey. It got you screwed.” So, so, so many things wrong with our trip. But I will say the staff was amazing. They deserve the tips. I hope they don’t screwed with the new tip deal.
Thanks for a great, informative video.
Prime refers to the location of your room. Your Prime Concierge room would have been in a better location on the ship. Any Concierge stateroom give you access to a concierge, but you go the concierge desk or call them, if you need their services.
Going end of this month on Silhouette. Booked in February 2023. Premium drink package. Are the tips still included?
Whew! So glad. I have 2 celebrity cruises booked for 2024 and 2025. Glad l got them when l did.
Thanks for all the great information. So glad they didn’t take the butlers away from sky suites. Since those are the only suites that are accessible, we can only book a sky suite when we decide to.
Completely agree! 🥳
Very informative! Thank you!
Thanks for watching!
kan a pays? Canape's maybe......(can·a·pé). Vaping is horrid for everyone (except the vape!) Glad the tips are still around.
What's a "knaw-pay"?
Do you know if the always included changes also apply to bookings made in the UK? At the moment, we can only book included with tips (which i prefer).
I’m curious to see the new pricing for the all included plan. I wonder if the other cruise lines like Princess and HAL will follow?
If there is a buck to be had, Princess will follow with no grandfathering 😮
I am glad you dug into the info before posting and not just blast the internet with false information, I am on Apex right now. My cabin attendant told me next cruise the chocolates on the pillow will only be there first and last night plus chic night. I really don't care...I really would have liked the warm cookies..that sounded good.
canapes =kan' a pays accented first syllable---always check the way a word is pronounced when you will use it repeatedly.
I don’t ever want to see a dollar sign on a main dining room menu.
very helpful info!
Thanks for sharing😊
No disrespect, love you guys but CANAPAS is prounced Can- a- pees. Keep on loving the info!!!
Is that how you pronounce that in the midwest - canapays?