CCL Pricing - Still seems high to me

Just got back from a fabulous Mediterranean sailing on RCI but am ready to come back home to CCL. I'm used to getting much better pricing from Carnival so what gives? Why does the pricing seem high and I haven't seen any good sales coming up either!:eek:

Demand is high.

It all depends on what you are looking for and what everyone else is looking for. Supply and Demand. I got my best deal ever (out of 17 cruises) on any cruise line (out of 4 different lines) for our upcoming Fantasy cruise....sometimes timing is everything;).

The latest episode of cruise radio podcast says demand and therefore prices haven't been this high since before the financial crisis in 2008

When other lines have free drink or specialty restaurant packages, free gratuities, etc., they are often cheaper than Carnival. Some just look at the per person cabin price per day to compare, but total costs must be looked at for an accurate appraisal.

Did you know that excursion costs vary accross cruise lines? I find NCL are higher and Celebrity's are comparable to Carnival's. Often other lines offer different excursions than Carnival, so for someone who is repeating ports may find a new shore tour.

I only began to understand what I was missing by cruising Carnival alone when I branched out to try other cruise lines. Viva le difference!

Paradise out of Tampa is unreasonable.

I have three sons and look for cruises with more fun things for them to do while onboard. We are willing to pay a little more for the CCL ships with the Waterworks on them so they can actually be in the water... because lord knows the small pool is generally occupied by drinkers. The other cruise lines aren't as good from a waterslide standpoint.

People are still buying, prices will stay as high as the market will support.

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I find that cruise prices seem to be up in general.

I think that the deeply cut deals that were out there a few years ago (after the Triumph and Splendour issues), have disappeared. Carnival recovered their passenger base and so they don't need to slash prices to get people to sail with them.

"perks" are only worth the value you place on them - free drinks doesn't do much for us (we don't drink much so the beverage package only really covers our non-alcoholic beverage costs).

I would not be against trying differant lines. But since we dont want to fly and it is an easy drive to Galveston for us it does limit us. When I book a cruise I do check RCl. For what We would pay for an inside state room on RCL. I find I can get a balcony on Carnival. We dont drink that much and dont eat at speciality restaurants. So carnival has all ways been the best value for us.

I think the low deposits are leading to some of the higher prices. Think about it......more people book because it's such a great deal so the ship looks fuller equating to the appearance of higher demand. Then there is a small deduction in the fare.....people request the price protection but they then usually have to cough up the balance of a full deposit. The marketing is pretty brilliant.

As above....demand is high right now.....that is the key factor in pricing.

Prices are up on all cruise lines as best as I can tell....so this isn't unique to Carnival.

And yes, right now, other lines can come in equal or cheaper. With the sip and sail Princess is running, I am at break even. The cruise was $800 higher for our two rooms combined, but when they added Sip and Sail, that was a wash.

Now it is more about shopping for the deal; and if you are tied down like we are to particular weeks around Christmas and spring break, that isn't likely to happen. But even with the increases, the value is still often better than a land vacation.

Cruise prices are higher than they've been in recent years. In the words of Carnival Corp. CEO on June 22nd:

"Carnival Corporation & plc President and Chief Executive Officer Arnold Donald noted, "Strong execution drove significant operational improvements, which more than offset the substantial drag from fuel and currency, leading to another second quarter adjusted earnings record. It was reinforcing to see over five percent improvement in cruise ticket prices....

http://www.carnivalcorp.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2282540

Totallly depends on time of year..... prices on every ship are HIGH during summer months as families travel then. Ditto Spring break (all of March and early April) and Christmas.

You can look at the same ship online in August and Sept...and it will be hundreds of dollars less per person in Sept. Kids are back in school!

It all depends on what you are looking for and what everyone else is looking for. Supply and Demand. I got my best deal ever (out of 17 cruises) on any cruise line (out of 4 different lines) for our upcoming Fantasy cruise....sometimes timing is everything;).

Which Fantasy cruise? We got an amazing deal on our May 15, 2017 sailing. $229 each plus taxes, fees, etc. for 4 of us in an oceanview room

It is high. Booking a Feb 2019 cruise 20 months ahead of time is more expensive than Feb 2017 6 months ahead of time was.

Demand is high.

This.

Prices are higher than I've seen in a few years...and special offers / deals are few and far between.

Prices are way up and the quality is WAY down.

On the positive side, I look forward to receiving a higher dividend payout in the near future.

I priced out our next 7 day cruise on a few different lines and I too was lured by the "free" packages offered up by another popular cruise line. Cost of drink package for our cruise is approx. 345 dollars per person if purchased pre-cruise. Cost of drink package on the other line? "Free"(admin fee $375.00). Sorta reminds me of the phone calls "you've just won a free cruise!! just send us X dollars for it" I guess "Free" means different things to different folks but I've always had an issue with paying for it. :)

Yep, looked at the deal on NCL with 2 perks. Still higher cost pp per night than CCL if you added the equivalent to the CCL cruise.

Helps to do the math.

This.

 

Prices are higher than I've seen in a few years...and special offers / deals are few and far between.

I'm with you Frank! I too am a platinum Carnival cruiser and these prices are not what I'm used to from Carnival :eek: At least my TA can get deals on 7 days or more on RCI via group rates. She told me Carnival just doesn't have the great group rate deals...which is annoying for me! I really do like Carnival although the same ole islands is kinda sad too. :D Guess I'll keep shopping around.

Prices are way up and the quality is WAY down.

Wish I could say the quality of your posts are on the way up, but I can't.:D

Yep, looked at the deal on NCL with 2 perks. Still higher cost pp per night than CCL if you added the equivalent to the CCL cruise.

 

Helps to do the math.

It could go the other way too. I just helped a co-worker get pricing for his daughter and her friends for Spring Break next year. She needed an inside room for 4 preferably a 7 night cruise, Eastern Itinerary, and out of Florida. I ended up giving him a list of 5 cruises (different cruise lines including Carnival) that met most, if not all of their criteria. The best deal price wise ended up NCL Escape due to their 3rd and 4th passenger sail free promo. If you just looked at the initial prices they show on the websites you could easily miss that. You had to dig in and do what if bookings to see the final costs. It pays to do your research and as you said "do the math" (love that since I am an accountant :D.)