Redefining Celebrity Cruises 2013

[Paul Motter]

Redefining Celebrity Cruises 2013
by Paul Motter

Celebrity is out to remake its image as the "Modern Luxury" cruise line for cuisine, entertainment and service

2.4.13

Reflection is the newest cruise ship in the fleet

Celebrity Cruises has been a premium brand name in cruising since its inception by John Chandris in the late 1980s. The line has always tried to attract discriminating cruisers who wanted a more refined cruise ship, with more accent on fine food, drink, art and entertainment and less on the usual shipboard antics affiliated with other "Fun Ship"-style cruise lines.
Royal Caribbean International acquired Celebrity from its original founder, Greek Shipping magnate John Chandris, in 1997; just about the time the line was starting to reinvent itself with a fleet of new ships of the Millennium-class. Today, the fleet is dominated by two classes of ships, four from the Millennium and five from the Solstice family.

Read more: Redefining Celebrity Cruises 2013

[BernieG]

Slight correction on your article... classic package drinks go to $8 not $10

[Paul Motter]

Thank you - did they change it?

[BernieG]

Not that I know of. Classic has always been $8 and Premium is $12 and if you have the Premium and want a $15 drink, you can pay the $3. Classic you'd have to pay the $15.

[dkjretired]

Interesting article, I think the new CEO is heading in the direction of making what he has the best it can be. At some point however considering the lead time it takes, they will have to think of new ships. Also believe they will need to do something with Bermuda, possible throw an S class ship in there with the new NCL Breakaway doing Bermuda as competition.

[cruise planner]

We absolutely love the new Solstice-class ships and think we've found our perfect ship! But then again, in all fairness, we're in our early 60's and what works for us doesn't work for everyone. Personally, families with tweens and teens would not find them 'kid friendly'. Being foodies, we were in paradise during our Eclipse sailing and can't wait to try the new Reflection.

Pete

[Paul Motter]

If you were at my press conference I think you would have come to the same conclusion I did - that they see Oceania's new ships doing extremely well and they feel their Solstice class ships are every bit as nice.

And in many ways I would not argue with Celebrity about that. I also love the S-class ships.

However - in terms of image the cruise public KNOWS that Celebrity cut ties with Michel Roux and that he has been replaced not with a "name" but with dining concepts.

Concepts may work to a limited extent - (arguably better for Carnival) but nothing quite matches the "buzz" one gets from hearing you will be eating cuisine from a true "star" chef (Jacques Pepin) on Oceania, and com pare that to Celebrity where the conversation goes "well, they used to have Michel Roux, then they had a different chef (Jacques Van Staden - who actually has a decent reputation) but he was replaced by a chef John Sulley who has no awards.....

But, putting that aside, The S-ships are beautiful. The entertainment is first class, the food is excellent in many ways - but it's too complicated to get that message out.

So - getting back to Oceania. I believe Celebrity's target is the Oceania Audience, and well it should be. However, when you charge $35 for a premium dining experiece (Oceania has a name chef and no extra charges for premium restaurants) then you have a challenge.

Celebrity might do well to raise its fairs but make the premium dining restaurants included on the cost. The dining packages are just the trial balloon to see if they can get there.

But to be sure, the term "modern luxury" tells us what they want us to think about them. They want us to compare them to luxury (Crystal Cruises) but modern (Oceania).

I think Celebrity can get there, but it will take some daring changes in policy. It would certainly help if the economy is better.

And as far as itinerary planning - 2013 is already a done deal, but they will figure it out and 2014 will have those ships' itineraries far more diversified, as they should be.

[richsea]

Interesting discussion.

I think that if Celebrity truly wants to align themselves with Oceania, that would mean that they would have to adjust their fares accordingly, & would never be able to fill their ships, even if they went to a more all inclusive model. Azamara is doing that & it seems that there are many who have been turned off by the higher prices, & their ships are so much smaller than Celebrity's. There are many people who are not interested in having drinks included in the fare, because they do not drink.

I know for myself, if Celebrity substantially raised prices, being on a fixed income, I would be driven away from them, even though they are our favorite cruise line, & have been for many, many years.

[BernieG]

I agree. I don't think Celebrity could fill their ships with higher prices. Oceania has a huge advantage with their ship size... the ports. I wouldn't want to do too much tendering with 3,000 other people.

While I like the S Class, I think it has its faults. One outside pool area, no promenade deck, the lovely view of life boats instead of the ocean when looking down. They're nice, but not perfect.

Not sure if you got the "World" brochure from Oceania, but they took a run at Celebrity by comparing their costs and there wasn't much of a difference if you use Oceania's Air and use the specialty restaurants.

[Paul Motter]

I do have that brochure, I will have to look it up.

Of course, when I reference Oceania I am talking about their newer ships, which are about 30% larger than the small ones, but yes, the S-class is much bigger, but they are spacious ships, even Reflection.

I just got a press release today about Celebrity's cuisine. Funny, because I got a press release from them last week about the line & the TV show "Top Chefs" and it was so badly written it barely made sense (I showed my culinary editor and she completely agreed).

But the one I got today is far clearer - and it touts special culinary cruises. The thing is that Celebrity USED TO compete as a culinary cruise line, but you really don't hear them mentioned that way so much anymore. They lost a lot of good will when they decided not to have a "celebrity" chef anymore.

Now, I have eaten onboard and I do think the Lawn Grill and Qsine both offer wonderful food. But as a concept I actually don't hear that many people raving about it.

Here is the thing - each portion is enough for four people, so while it is a "tasting" experience, there is really too much food. If one person wants "sliders" then you enough for four people comes to the table. Same with egg rolls, etc.

So - in the end I suppose there is a lot of wasted food, or else people get food that other people wanted.

But the food is really good and beautifully presented. I think they need to keep the menu and presentation, but control the portions so only the people who really want a certain dish get a portion of it.

[BernieG]

The price comparison was the insert, it's not in the actual brochure. I think they compared Celebrity, Princess and a third one I can't remember who.