Do you still believe that cruising gives you value for money?

Given that these message boards are full of reduced portions, less staff, poor quality, customer dissatisfaction, lowering of standards and the growing cost of cruising, does cruising still give you value for money. A late cruise booking can still give you some sense of a good deal . The methods used by cruise companies to get you on board appear very attractive but when you when you dig down to the small print are they the real deal?

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Given that these message boards are full of reduced portions, less staff, poor quality, customer dissatisfaction, lowering of standards and the growing cost of cruising, does cruising still give you value for money. A late cruise booking can still give you some sense of a good deal . The methods used by cruise companies to get you on board appear very attractive but when you when you dig down to the small print are they the real deal?

Sure cruises are still attractive....and there's always the trade off between land and sea vacations. How many times do you want to pack/unpack on a vacation? How many times do you want to decide which restaurant to eat at? many questions....but they all boil down to what you want to do..what you enjoy doing. We do both...and we do land vacations with a private guide..and some drive yourself....depends where we are. We cruise to unpack once and not have to think much about choices....and to veg out. It's also a good way to see some areas of the world that we might not get to any other way...eg. Vietnam....but we've done China twice on land.

Then of course there are the "all in one" Club Med type vacations.

Lots of ways to spend your money....each has it's value.

I remember the cost of our second cruise in 1988. It was $784 each for a 7 day outside cabin on Carnival -- that is the equivalent of $1568 in today's dollars.

Cruising is still the best value around. :) We got more for it, but we also paid a lot.

Given that these message boards are full of reduced portions, less staff, poor quality, customer dissatisfaction, lowering of standards and the growing cost of cruising, does cruising still give you value for money. A late cruise booking can still give you some sense of a good deal . The methods used by cruise companies to get you on board appear very attractive but when you when you dig down to the small print are they the real deal?

 

Yep.

Reduced portions. I actually prefer those. I'm from the Clean Plate generation and I'd rather ask for seconds than fill up on a large portion and not have room for dessert. :)

Less staff. I guess. But the service from the people we've run into has been quite consistently good.

Poor quality. Meh. Still good quality for $$ spent.

Customer dissatisfaction. I'm satisfied.

Growing cost. Perhaps one needs to watch the prices a little, but as someone has already said, the increasing cost isn't unrealistic.

Here's my complaint. Why can't I replicate that incredible thrill I had, fifteen years ago, on my very first cruise when we had the cheapest inside balcony we could possibly get? :D

Short answer, yes.

Long answer, Yes, absolutely.

Short answer, yes.

 

Long answer, Yes, absolutely.

Good answers, but your long answer was too long-winded and I quit reading halfway through. :)

Yes, still a value for us! :D

Of course it's still a good deal when considering that DH and I have been to many multiple countries in the last several years. Something that we would not only be able to achieve, time wise, in seven years, but also cost wise, as well.

Our first 15 cruises, we concentrated on relaxation and sunning. We stuck to the Caribbean, Hawaii, Bermuda, the Mexican Rivera, etc.. along with Alaska and South America. We have had many beautiful cruises.

In 2008, I took my first European cruise with my parents and I was hooked! Every since, DH and I have tried to take a European cruise (and soon to be other continents) at least once a year...sometimes twice a year. We can visit up to 8 countries in one 2 week cruise (pre and post cruise stays included.)

There is no way that we could visit all the countries that we have covered by cruising, in a lifetime of land travels. So, yes, I think that cruising is still a great bargain! :)

Yep.

 

Reduced portions. I actually prefer those. I'm from the Clean Plate generation and I'd rather ask for seconds than fill up on a large portion and not have room for dessert. :)

 

Less staff. I guess. But the service from the people we've run into has been quite consistently good.

 

Poor quality. Meh. Still good quality for $$ spent.

 

Customer dissatisfaction. I'm satisfied.

 

Growing cost. Perhaps one needs to watch the prices a little, but as someone has already said, the increasing cost isn't unrealistic.

 

Here's my complaint. Why can't I replicate that incredible thrill I had, fifteen years ago, on my very first cruise when we had the cheapest inside balcony we could possibly get? :D

I concur with Canadian Dee!:)

Absolutely. I just priced a land vacation to Bermuda 5 days, and it was more than 2x the cost of a verandah for 7 days (and I think the Bermuda cruises are way out of line pricewise). Not apples to apples, 5 days in Bermuda vs 3 days plus at sea time.

IMO cruising continues to offer the best value vacation by a large margin. The flights to and from the cruise are more of a challenge for us.

We no longer see cruising as a good value, so after the two B2Bs we have scheduled later this year, we're probably done. We loved cruising before the cutbacks, cheapening of the product, and nickel and diming took over. We weren't given the option of paying more to keep status quo, just a product that we can't support. We survived 50 years without cruising before we started so we'll survive the next 50 without it.

I'm not so sure. Some cruises for 2016 that I've looked at are running at around $6k dollars for 14 nights that's $428 per night.

I think celebrity is pricing itself out of the market and as for these constant promotions [one way or another you are paying for it] I'm pretty fed up.

It is not as fun to us as it used to be.

I do not remember so many complaints five years ago. And to be honest, often I agree. We switched to one cruise a year. We used to cruise 3x a year.

Don't see that value anymore.

Still good value in my opinion, it works out cheaper for me to visit some places via cruise than actually going there for a few days. If I like it then I know I can spend the extra money sometime to go there for a few days!

I must do, otherwise I wouldn't be doing it, would I?

Yep, even cruising in suites is still excellent value for what you receive.

Better value than the early days!

My first cruise was on Royal Caribbean's Song of Norway in 1977. You should have seen how TINY the staterooms and the showers were back then! Now they are like hotel rooms.

No balconies. Very few had anything but twin beds. Forget about the fabulous stage shows, rock walls, etc.

Top of the line was Royal Viking Line. People went around the world in tiny twin bedded rooms. Only balconies were the few Penthouse Suites added in the early 1980s.

Service is still relatively great, better than ashore in all but the pricey resorts.

Just back from 14 nights Southern Caribbean, booked onboard for 2017 belting deal, yes the flights are the real killer, but happy to save hard to feel special for two weeks

Depends where I want to go. I've switched about three cruises to land trips in the past three months and will be canceling reflection in November to do 8 nights in Kauai instead. We'll occasionally cruise but i think we prefer our land trips more.

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Our first cruise, longer ago than I would like to think, was $450 for an inside. I believe that on some sailing you can still get an inside for under $500. Given inflation over the years, sailing is still a bargain - if you look for it.

If we didn't think it was a good value we wouldn't have 7 cruises booked.

We also do 1 or 2 land based trips each year; France, Belgium & Luxemborg last year, Hawaii and East coast of US this year. But if we had to give up one or the other we would give up the land trips.

Given that these message boards are full of reduced portions, less staff, poor quality, customer dissatisfaction, lowering of standards and the growing cost of cruising, does cruising still give you value for money. A late cruise booking can still give you some sense of a good deal . The methods used by cruise companies to get you on board appear very attractive but when you when you dig down to the small print are they the real deal?

 

 

 

 

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No! Cruising is the most high priced waste of our money being tied up by booking avyear out! Extremilly poor quality, we haven't been seen any type quality in so many years it is making our head spin.

So we went on and booked another 10 days of total discomfort just because we enjoy getting ripped off and screwed over by big business. I guess we enjoy punishment and wasting money on fake deals.

Wow! You hit it on the head.

For us the answer is now a no. Not so much the price, but the quality has decreased especially in the dining room.

Drink prices have also risen considerably so by the time you factor in speciality restaurants for a descent meal, drink package and shore excursions I don't see a great value.

We canceled our last cruise and took advantage of the sandals 65%special they had going on. Top shelf liquor, great meals and scuba diving everyday...no chair hogs or big crowds.

I have been nickel and dimed out of the cruise market.

I just priced out an A1 Aqua cabin for a 7 night Southern Caribbean on Summit next march earlier today.

I included adding in a premium drink package for 2, gratuities etc. Also includes the perks X is giving (OBC, classic drinks and grants).

It worked out to $165.72 per person per day.

So for $331.44 per day for 2, which includes all meals and drinks, and the "hotel room" itself, in resort destinations, seems like a great value. Marriott Harbor Beach in Fort Lauderdale, is $479 a night (without a view of the ocean for this price), meals would add another $150 or so a day for 2, MINIMUM, entertainment would be extra etc.

Yes cruising is a great value. Even a suite would be a value versus a land-based resort when you look to all-in pricing.