Celebrity Cruises Is Changing And Not Everyone Will Like It. Here’s Why

Depending on what sort of cruiser you are, the changes Celebrity Cruises has, and will be making, will either be hugely disappointing, or very exciting indeed.

Here’s what you need to know about the line these days.

What Celebrity Used To Be

When I first started cruising with Celebrity, it offered something quite distinctive.

It was a classic premium cruise experience, but more stylish, youthful and energetic than its direct more formal and traditional competitors: Holland America, Princess and Cunard.

Celebrity was elegant without being stuffy. The ships had contemporary décor, but they still had traditional cruise features like promenades, proper cabin balconies, comfortable lounges, classic cruise activities, and plenty of places to sit looking out to sea.

The food was good, service felt personal, and the atmosphere was quiet and adult, and there were usually not many families with kids on board.

The program leaned into enrichment, live music, trivia, and traditional production shows, and the fare was relatively straightforward, with plenty included.

Celebrity had two main ship classes, Millennium and Solstice, and both delivered that same overall experience. You knew what Celebrity stood for and roughly what sort of cruise you were going to get.

That started to change around six years ago, and the pace of change has accelerated.

Celebrity Cruises Changes: Wants Different Passengers

The first and perhaps most important change is that Celebrity clearly decided it wanted a different kind of passenger.

It still wants traditional, older Celebrity cruisers like me. It is not trying to drive us all away. But it is also working harder to attract younger, more affluent, diverse, and more experience-driven travellers, including families.

You can see this in Celebrity’s advertising.

The focus now is on “modern luxury”, with younger and more diverse passengers, fashion, wellness, contemporary design, fancy cocktails and décor and features around the ship that work well on Instagram and social media all being featured.

Royal Caribbean Group, which owns Celebrity, talks about the line “elevating premium travel”.
That makes sense when you look at the group’s three main cruise lines.

Royal Caribbean targets the large family-resort market with huge ships and an enormous range of attractions.

Silversea offers a small-ship, ultra-luxury experience with exotic itineraries and expedition cruises.

Celebrity is being positioned between them as the premium more lifestyle brand.

It is aiming particularly at couples in their 40s and 50s, some travelling with children and teenagers, who want a stylish, resort-like experience but not the full-scale theme-park atmosphere of Royal Caribbean.

Premium cruising has also been energised by Virgin Voyages launching into the category, which has attracted a more youthful-minded audience. However, Virgin is adults-only, whereas Celebrity wants families as well.

The clearest evidence of this shift came with the launch of the Edge Class ships: Edge, Apex, Beyond, Ascent and Xcel.

Celebrity did not simply launch a new class of ship. Edge Class changed what Celebrity Cruises was trying to be.

These ships were designed to appeal to people who might previously have dismissed premium cruising as old-fashioned and stuffy, and they wanted something very different once aboard.

As well as a very different style hull and look, the most obvious new feature is the Magic Carpet, the platform that can function as a bar or restaurant and move down to sea level for tender boarding.

Then there are the Infinite Veranda cabins.

Instead of having a separate outdoor balcony, the balcony area has effectively been brought inside the cabin. A large window lowers to create an opening to the outside.

While this makes the cabin feel larger, it means you do not have a conventional outdoor balcony that the rest of their fleet has.

These cabins are divisive.

Some passengers like the extra interior space and modern design. But many traditional cruisers want to open a door, step outside and sit on a proper balcony.

All cabins are also more contemporary in style and, to my eye, less cosy than those on Millennium and Solstice Class ships.

Celebrity also abandoned the idea of one large main dining room on these ships too.

Instead, Edge Class has four smaller dining rooms with different menus that passengers can move between: Tuscan, Normandie, Cyprus and Cosmopolitan.

Celebrity created Eden as a multi-use dining and entertainment venue, added the Rooftop Garden, and made the Grand Plaza with Martini Bar the ship’s lively social centre.

The ships also have a much larger and more exclusive Retreat complex for suite guests, effectively creating a luxury ship within a ship.

There is more emphasis on DJs, craft cocktails, wellness, nightlife and specialty restaurants.

Celebrity is not limiting these changes to its newest ships.

It has started bringing elements of the Edge Class to their older Solstice Class ships.

Celebrity is making major changes beginning with Celebrity Solstice and then Reflection, adding or redesigning as many as 13 venues.

The plans include contemporary interiors, a pool-club atmosphere and new dining options. That will excite passengers who find those ships dated, but disappoint those who value their cosy lounges, familiar layouts and calmer atmosphere.

The newer Celebrity experience is generally busier and louder. It is less focused on passengers who simply want comfortable lounges, quiet music and long periods watching the sea.

The itineraries reinforce this new direction.

Celebrity seems to want the ship itself to be more of a destination. It wants people to book because they want to experience the ship, restaurants, bars and lifestyle on board, not only because of where the ship is going.

Celebrity has also started including Royal Caribbean Group’s private destinations, such as Perfect Day at CocoCay in the Caribbean, and will do so also at their new European ones, on more itineraries.

That introduces more beach-club and resort experiences, very different from their traditional itineraries built only around exploring authentic ports.

Celebrity seems to be developing two different products under the same name.

Millennium and Solstice Class, even with the changes, still offer more traditional premium cruising, while Edge Class provides a contemporary and more resort-like experience.

Although the same Celebrity X is on the funnel, sailing on Celebrity Silhouette or Solstice can feel very different from sailing on Edge or Ascent.

I felt that myself. I sailed recently on Celebrity Silhouette after being on Celebrity Edge, and at times it was almost as though I had sailed with two different cruise lines.

None of this means Celebrity has suddenly become a young person’s cruise line.

It still carries large numbers of passengers in their 50s, 60s and 70s. However, it is no longer designing every part of the experience around the traditional older premium cruiser.

That creates tensions on board.

On my recent cruise, I heard traditional cruisers complain that the music and entertainment had become too contemporary and were no longer aimed at them.

At the same time, some younger passengers I spoke to felt the ship was not lively enough. They wanted more happening, more atmosphere and more energy.

Celebrity risks being caught between the two groups, with one feeling it has changed too much and the other that it has not changed enough.

But the changing passenger focus is only one part of what is happening.

Celebrity Cruises Changes: Becoming Class-Driven

Celebrity is also becoming much more class driven.

It increasingly offers different versions of the same cruise depending on how much you are prepared to pay.

Passengers in standard cabins receive the included restaurants, public spaces, pool deck and entertainment.

Above that is AquaClass, with access to the exclusive Blu restaurant, thermal spa facilities, free fitness classes, and extra cabin amenities like yoga mats and bottled water.

Then there is The Retreat, Celebrity’s suite experience.

The Retreat is designed to create something closer to an all-inclusive luxury-line experience within the larger ship.

Suite guests receive larger accommodation, Luminae restaurant with elevated menus and food, priority benefits like at embarkation and reserved seats in the theatre, premium drinks and Wi-Fi, and butler service.

The Retreat also includes access to a large private lounge and a private sundeck with a pool, bar and dining.

These areas occupy some of the ship’s most desirable locations.

Celebrity once differentiated itself by creating an elevated premium experience across the whole ship.

Now it increasingly operates a stratified ship-within-a-ship model, like MSC Yacht Club, Norwegian’s The Haven and Princess Cruises’ Sanctuary Collection.

There is nothing wrong with giving additional amenities to passengers who pay more. But the tension comes when creating those areas reduces what is available to everyone else.

For example, on some ships, some of the best forward-facing areas have been allocated to The Retreat.

If you want an open-air view directly over the front of the ship, rather than looking through glass, you need to be staying in a suite.

Celebrity is therefore no longer selling one consistent premium experience. It is selling several different experiences on the same ship, and the gap between them is widening.

Celebrity Cruises Changes: Food And Service Changed

This brings me to two areas Celebrity was once especially well known for: food and service.

Celebrity traditionally had a strong reputation for included dining and personal service.

Both are areas where I increasingly hear passengers saying the experience has become less consistent. And I agree.

Passengers talk about reduced menu variety, variable quality and greater pressure on staff in restaurants, with the included food sometimes feeling dialled back.

Speciality restaurants such as Murano, Tuscan Grille, and Sushi On Five I find to be very good, but the charges are high and increasing.

The Oceanview Café buffet can also be good, but it can become extremely crowded. On several lunchtimes during my recent cruise, I could not find anywhere to sit.

The crew remain hardworking, friendly and professional.

However, staffing feels tighter. Cabin attendants appear to manage more rooms. Waiters have less time to stop and interact. Waiting times at bars can be longer.

Celebrity is not alone in facing higher costs and trying to run ships more efficiently.

But when Celebrity is charging what I see are increasingly premium prices compared to their direct competition, passengers like me notice when dining and service do not feel as sharp as they once did.

The atmosphere on board is changing too.

Celebrity Cruises Changes: Celebrity No Longer An Adult Line

Celebrity used to be seen as a choice for passengers wanting a quiet, largely adult alternative to the big family resort brands.

Celebrity has never been adults-only, and it has always welcomed families. But historically, relatively few children sailed on many of its ships, particularly outside school holidays.

That is becoming less dependable.

Celebrity now promotes children’s clubs, family accommodation, and frequently run third- and fourth-passenger offers with large discounts of up to 70% making it very attractive for families sharing cabins.

Shorter itineraries and those private cruise line destinations also appeal to families and multigenerational groups.

During school holidays and peak periods, Celebrity can feel much more like a busy family cruise as I found on my summer Edge Mediterranean cruise.

Even with relatively few children, the newer ships are busier, with louder music, more events and greater focus on bars and nightlife.

Compared with my recent cruises on Holland America, Cunard and Princess, I found Celebrity louder, more crowded – and more energetic.

For some passengers, that is exactly what they want as Celebrity offers more activity, variety and atmosphere than those other premium lines.

Celebrity is expanding beyond ocean cruising too.

They already have expedition cruising in the Galapagos, and they moved into river cruising, taking the brand’s approach onto the Rhine and Danube with purpose-built ships.

That is possibly another sign that Celebrity wants to become a broader premium travel brand, rather than simply a traditional premium ocean cruise line.

So, is Celebrity better than it used to be, or worse?

Celebrity Cruises Changes: Other Celebrity Considerations

The answer depends entirely on who you are and what you want.

Celebrity is still one of the best options for passengers wanting a modern, stylish and somewhat more youthful form of premium cruising.

It suits people who want something more contemporary and energetic than Holland America, Princess or Cunard, but do not want the full resort attractions, water slides, Flow Riders and arcades of Royal Caribbean.

It also suits passengers who find Virgin Voyages too unconventional, and who want the option of travelling with children and teenagers.

Celebrity can work particularly well for couples wanting stylish ships, good bars and restaurants, wellness and a lively premium atmosphere, and for multigenerational families wanting something more sophisticated than a traditional resort ship.

But Celebrity is no longer the obvious choice for everyone who once loved it.

It is becoming less suitable for passengers who want a reliably quiet, adult atmosphere, a strong destination focus, a traditional balcony cabin, cosy lounges, personal service and an experience centred on classic cruising.

Those cruisers may still find what they want on Millennium and Solstice Class ships, but Celebrity’s direction is clearly away from that traditional model.

So, one big mistake passengers can make these days is booking based on what Celebrity used to be, rather than looking carefully to see if the ship, cabin, fare and itinerary matches what they really want.

 

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