Is crusing still a bargin ?

That's fantastic! Where do you find such deals?

Start with the specials page on the Princess website. Also search on the major travel websites for cruises within the next month or two. And sign up for email notifications from Princess and any other cruise line you're interested in. I booked our August cruise on the Caribbean Princess in June, about six weeks before sailing. Booking the same itinerary next year would cost us more than double right now.

We have been cruising since 1978 .

Cruise fares have not changed that much when comparing Inside & Oceanview then with now.

Just the sizes of the ships, the addition of balconies ,suites and onboard extra $$ .

If you can do without those pricy drink packages, overpriced photos and excursions , you can cruise

at bargain prices.

I started a post about this earlier in the year but have the exact opposite opinion you do. I think cruising is the BEST bargain out there and we vacation several times a year on a very limited budget.

Way back in the 80's, I went on my first cruise and it was $100 a day pp for an oceanview room on Carnival....no perks included at that time. I still use that $100 a day pp base price as my pricing guide and very rarely pay more than that. I can now find that pricing for a balcony and usually perks are included (obc, beverage package, gratuities, upgrades or a combination of these perks). The only time I pay more is when there is a specialty cruise for which I really want to go on but many times, I pay even less than that $100 per day pp. I have a couple of cruises booked right now that were less than that in OV rooms ($65 a day pp) and one that was only slightly more than that for a balcony but I got the sip and sail as well gratuities ($120 a day pp) ... all on Princess.

What has gone up is the gratuities (but oftentimes, we get those for free), specialty restaurant charges, beverages, spa services, bingo, government fees & taxes, port charges, etc. But cruise pricing in general, especially when you can get free perks is the absolute best bargain in travel if you can be flexible and diligent about seeking out specials. I am always surprised, although I shouldn't be, when someone asks me to find them a deal on a Disney cruise to Alaska in July. That is not how you find a deal on a cruise!! That's not how it is done! A friend just asked me to find a deal to the Southern Caribbean for early in December. I know this is traditionally a very low cost time of year to cruise in the Caribbean. I found a great itinerary but it was at $1000 pp for a 9 night cruise. I suggested he wait as it was already into that final payment period and a glut of cabins available... only 2 days later, got the same sailing in a balcony for $700 pp. I texted him and said 'time to strike'!! Then, he transferred the booking to a TA and got a couple hundred in OBC. So glad he took the advice to wait. He saved so much money. So, while all cruises are not bargains, there are certainly some bargains out there and the prices are really no more that what we paid over 40 ago! Yowsa!!

We are just off Oasis. Had a JS and drink package for each (DW and I). Cabin and drinks were $3,600 with port fees and tax. No tips, air, pre-cruise hotel, transfers, etc. That does not compare favorably in my mind to a good sized room at an all inclusive in Playa.

 

Cant say factually about all, just seems less of a value.

 

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Beg to differ -you can get an inside cabin for a little more than $100 pp per day which amounts to about $6000 per month

 

Does an inside stateroom equate to a b+/a- condo? Do people drink, visit specialty dining, shop, take excursions or do just about anything while on a cruise?

IMO in most cases it's not a bargain anymore. :(

Cruising is not a bargain, nor good value, for solo cruisers from Australia.

 

I travel frequently and travel much less expensive (all inclusive), than on a cruise.

 

However, I am aware that there are bargains for US passengers and still hope for a last minute bargain, after final payment. After all cruising is a perishable product, so it is preferable that ships sail full.

You got me curious. My February back to back cruise is 13 days total in a mini-suite. I also booked a night stay by our home airport and 3 extra nights in Fl. Adding in airfare and meals while in Fl it comes to about $300.00 a day per person. When Las Vegas was my vacation destination I spent about 500.00 a day and did not have a strip view hotel. I don't gamble much on the ship but neither of these vacation costs include play and shopping money so cruising is a better value for me, and much more relaxing. For others, like singles, maybe not.

On the other hand, the cruise ship takes you to different places and provides all the necessities included in the fare. If you want soda, alcohol...yup, it's more, and depending upon how you handle your time ashore it can cost a little or a lot more.

 

Personally, I couldn't stand being at one place for a week. I would go nuts, so I will never stay at an all inclusive regardless of price. I don't only cruise in the Caribbean, so yes, a cruise is still a fantastic value for exotic itineraries, and I think it's a great deal in the Caribbean if you look for deals.

Is cruising (at least on Princess) a good deal? For the past 10 cruises, we have always booked interior rooms. All we do there is sleep, shower and dress anyway and so feel that the money we're saving over a balcony stateroom is much better spent on other things...anything! The views from the ships decks are not only better, they're panoramic! Generally, a hotel room comes with a window...with a view of the parking lot...so I would claim that it is on a par with an interior shipboard stateroom, at least from the standpoint of a "view" which allows for an apples to apples cost comparison. OK...Let's take a look at a cruise we took two years ago: Grand Japan, Diamond Princess, interior stateroom. We circled Japan, 24 days, visited 12 cities. All you need do is compare the cost of that cruise to 24 nights in 12 different upscale Japanese hotels, the cost of traveling the entire coastline of the country from one city to the next and 24 days of really good meals. Japan, like Australia and many other countries, is very expensive. There is no question that the cost of doing such a vacation on our own would have been at least twice as expensive as the cruise, not to mention the hassle of "moving" every other day, packing/unpacking, hauling luggage, hiring ground transportation, and not having all the many free day-long and evening entertainment options, etc. For us, cruising is not only a good deal, it's the only deal.

I think it is all what you want from a holiday, and what you want to pay.

 

One thing to look at is the overall cost... ( everything ) room, wine, food, and getting around and often a big one getting to and from home to port.

 

For us a driving holiday, staying a self contained cottage for 2 weeks including the above plus petrol for car is get on $400-500 aus for two, a cruise about $900 aus for two but that is in a suite, no cooking or cleaning of driving, and at port get off the ship and walk.....

 

So is it a bargain going cruising ? , if you take un indoor cabin you bet.

or like us you take a suite, it's a bit of a splurge. but not over the top.

yes we have stayed in some land based all inclusive places ( it was heaven but at double the cost of cruise it would want to be )

 

So with everything going up all the time, Like a 3 night train trip in Australia we did twelve years ago it under half the price. to what it is now.

 

The bottom line I think cruising is value for money holiday, and big thing it is relaxing.

 

Cheers Don

We are just off Oasis. Had a JS and drink package for each (DW and I). Cabin and drinks were $3,600 with port fees and tax. No tips, air, pre-cruise hotel, transfers, etc. That does not compare favorably in my mind to a good sized room at an all inclusive in Playa.

 

Cant say factually about all, just seems less of a value.

Having just taken a RCCL cruise, and while considering a group rate cruise on RCCL, I can say their pricing is WAAAAay more than Princess'. Even with a good discount (Texas resident fare for cruise out of Galveston) the cruise was still more for our balcony cabin than with Princess. Our TA was unable to offer any discount (normally ~10% for Princess) or OBC. Then there were the items onboard that cost extra, like $12 for an on Demand movie on our stateroom cabin TV that cost $ 0 on Princess.

 

Using RCCL rather than Princess Cruises can provide a different answer for the "is cruising still a bargain?" question posed on the Princess board.

IMO in most cases it's not a bargain anymore. :(

 

I totally agree with you Keith!!!

Tony

I think cruising can still be good value (not quite the same as a bargain). Our problem, as I'm sure many of you have already been through, is that we have to go during school holidays and have to have a cabin designed to take 3 people. There are far less of these getting sold off cheap!

 

Once our daughter leaves school and/or stops wanting to come on holiday with us, I can book far better deals than I can now.

 

Our next cruise is a 7-nighter that cost a smidge under £2200 for a balcony cabin. That works out at just over £100 pppn. That is my cut off of a good price. It's out of Southampton so I don't have any flights to add on to that - if I needed to add flights then this would have been beyond my budget.

 

I quite regularly see cruises advertised at about £65 pppn, but they are never available for our circumstances. One day though......

Beg to differ -you can get an inside cabin for a little more than $100 pp per day which amounts to about $6000 per month

 

It's really hard to find a windowless hotel room, cottage, or condo to make a direct comparison.

IMO in most cases it's not a bargain anymore. :(

 

Totally agree.....it really is a very expensive way to travel.....we are able to travel much more affordably taking advantage of airline, hotel and rental car freebies.......we have cruised a lot and if you like going to the same places over and over, eating the same food over and over and listening to the same boring cruise stories over and over then it is priceless.......:rolleyes:

Does an inside stateroom equate to a b+/a- condo? Do people drink, visit specialty dining, shop, take excursions or do just about anything while on a cruise?

 

People in inside cabins are created equal to people in inside cabins and are allowed to do everything available on the ship. I don't know what your equation means

Totally agree.....it really is a very expensive way to travel.....we are able to travel much more affordably taking advantage of airline, hotel and rental car freebies.......we have cruised a lot and if you like going to the same places over and over, eating the same food over and over and listening to the same boring cruise stories over and over then it is priceless.......:rolleyes:

Hmmmm. Now, I may have completely misunderstood your post but I get the feeling you don't really like cruising?

 

 

Unless of course you do like going to the same places over and over, eating the same food over and over and listening to the same boring cruise stories over and over

Although it's not the bargain it use to be it's still better than any land based vacation.

 

Of course you can sail living in a closet or a full suite so that can make a big difference with the price per day.

Hmmmm. Now, I may have completely misunderstood your post but I get the feeling you don't really like cruising?

 

 

Unless of course you do like going to the same places over and over, eating the same food over and over and listening to the same boring cruise stories over and over

 

Looks like you are a candidate for giving up cruiseing and doing land based vacations

Looks like you are a candidate for giving up cruiseing and doing land based vacations

Not me. I was referring to PrincessLuver's post.

Looks like you are a candidate for giving up cruiseing and doing land based vacations

 

We will go on a cruise if we get a lot of OBC's (several thousand dollars worth). Otherwise we like flying free international first class, staying in hotels for free and getting free rental cars. None of this you can really do cruising.....but I guess free laundry is a turn on to many Princess cruisers and yes we get free laundry too.....it has been our experience while cruising that most passengers know very little about how to access free travel and beneficial travel reward programs....:cool:

Good for you Princess Luver. I am curious about your name though. Presumably, given your recent responses, it isn't a love of the cruise line so, presumably you love an actual Princess?

There are still bargain cruises to be found on Princess.

Thing is for us ... a bargain is not a bargain if we don't like the time of year, itinerary, cabins available, etc.

For us, cruising is not, nor had it ever been, a bargain. We do not get any promos or last minute sales like those in North America, we can't take advantage of price drops without losing our deposits, and so on. Add in flights and hotels for any cruise at all, and it's not a bargain.

Then again, we don't vacation because it's a bargain. We vacation where we want to go, and do shop around for best pricing, but it's never a bargain. We've only scored a cabin at $100 or less pp per day once, in the early years of our sailing history, and we've been cruising for at least 15 years. It just doesn't happen for our region. And no, we don't sail suites or Mini-suites except special occasions. We also don't sail insides..

We can stay at a quite luxurious 4 or 5 star all inclusive including our airfare and pre/post stay hotel in Mexico for about what a 7-night Caribbean Cruise wirh same airfare and pre/post stay would cost - that's before any onboard spend. Since we're not eligible for Sip and Sail or 3 for Free or any other promos, never have free drinks package or free gratuities or any of the like, we have to pay for any of it extra. All that gets tacked on vs being included at resort.

At the resorts, we can take different excursions and day trips, so see different things most days - it's not always just lounging by pool or beach although there's plenty of that.. Same as on a cruise. No, we don't wake up somewhere else every day, but we do wake up in a ginormous room wirh Jacuzzis, huge balconies, ocean views, full room service vs a sandwich, and everything included. No extra cost for a steak house or Italian dinner and so on. Sure, cheesy entertainment sometimes, but so it is on ships, and the bands are as good or better than ships most of the time. Plus there's access to really good nightlife if we want nearby. Same pricing goes for resorts throughout the Caribbean that we visit..

We cruise because we enjoy it, because it takes us new places, etc. Same as we land vacation because we enjoy it and we see new things if we want. Neither is a bargain for us. Although a land trip to an AI is a better "bargain" for us than a week cruise...