asctony

1 hour ago, hcat said:

we only sail X..and maybe Cunard so we pick what works best for us when we book...

Ok, now I understand your opinion.

I cruise X, RCI, Princess, NCL, MSC & HAL. No one cruise line provides it all. They all have their pluses & minuses.

On 11/27/2023 at 3:07 PM, SoloAlaska said:

NCL has Free at Sea (FAS) which gets you some wifi coverage, 50$ towards each excursion, some specialty dinning, and the drinks package and all you pay is the gratuity.

 

Since you addressed NCL.

Here is Princess Plus & Premium packages.

Please look at what you get. These 2 are will within the $73 - $100 per day on RCI. PLUS the pkgs includes daily gratuities.

3 minutes ago, peachcreamsicle said:

My husband and I just got back from a 9 night Equinox cruise.  I must say, we definitely noticed decline on Celebrity in terms of the dining options and level of service.  
 

There seems to have been a huge decline in the quality and quantity of the Celebrity menu.  The oceanview cafe was a madhouse at peak times, with nary a place to sit.  My husband and I are younger and active, but I definitely felt for those with older cruisers with mobility issues… having to search high and low for a seat while balancing a plate of food.  The buffet was often repetitive and certain offerings were just plain bad.  
 

Main dining has also gone downhill, with slow service, limited choices and smaller portions.  When I was especially hungry, I’d often feel tempted to order multiple appetizers or mains, but this would mean spending hours in the dining room waiting for our waiter to meander over at his leisure.  We would just fill up on bread then duck out.  
 

The final insult was that on the final day of our cruise, we were charged for having taken something from the minibar in our room, when we hadn’t.  I contacted Celebrity and they told us it was probably an oversight, but still left me with a negative impression.  I asked how I can prevent being charged erroneously in the future, and the Celebrity rep suggested having my room steward come take an inventory of our fridge before we leave the room.  I’ve never had this happen on any other cruise, nor have I ever had to have my fridge inventoried in the mayhem of departure day.  
 

My question is, is this just Celebrity now? Or just the Equinox? Are there other cruise lines that are still good? 

Have Cabin Stewart Empty your frig the first day unless you are going to use it.

All cruise lines are doing the same thing. Times are changing and not for the better. 

Price increases on Cabins, Beverage Pkgs, Specialty Restaurants, etc. 

Happy Cruising!! & Holidays!!!

1 minute ago, doghog said:

I just laugh at those that give those ridiculous suggestions. 

I do, too. I even cruise the other cruise lines, too. LOL

Happy Holidays!

I know this is an RCI Forum. However, on  Celebrity and here, people are complaining about the Beverage Package Prices. I think they both are over priced. JMHO!

If people are interested, I will post prices from other cruise lines. When I do, some people get nasty and say 'go cruise that line.' 

To me, this is what these forums are for. Information, regardless of cruise line. 

Let the fun begin!  

2 minutes ago, doghog said:

I believe you are correct. I've made the suggestion to Celebrity's CC (Miami office) to follow RC CAS lead on loyalty drinks but didn't get a warm fuzzy feeling from their response.  

I did the same thing on Celebrity Cruise Critics and they told me to go cruise RCI. They did not want to have X change. People are funning in more ways than one. LOL

1 hour ago, hcat said:

 We  dislike a la carte cruising..we always opt for "all in" if we can!

If you like 'all in', relook at the things you are getting with Princess' packages.

There is no 'all in' with X's pkgs. You only get Drinks and Wi-Fi. I am not talking about Suites or Retreat. Price out the X Pkg and compare to the Princess Pkg. 

8 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

I believe this all started when Celebrity raised many of their former Premium Drinks Package wine by the glass by $2-$4 over the $17 cap this month. It does IMO look like just more nickel and diming by Celebrity. $19 for a glass of Cherry Pie Pino is higher than most retail stores sell by the bottle. Same for Decoy Cab at $20 when it retails by the bottle for less. This type of pricing just makes so many in this forum go crazy. Not good PR by Celebrity. BTW on our HAL cruise last month Cherry Pie Pino sold for $12 a glass.

Celebrity prices on all their drinks are more than the other cruise lines. Now they pushed them out of the packages. X is really pushing & may suffer in the long run. 

29 minutes ago, hcat said:

hope X does not go this way..  Too many add ons and upsells as it is!

Why don't you like the Princess packages?

That includes tips\gratuities?

X used to include tips\gratuities, now it does not.

What do you mean by too many add ons?

I have used this and it is well worth the daily cost.much cheaper & more for your dollar than any other package I have bought on X or other cruise lines. JMHO! 

Princess Plus & Premium packages.

Just now, sanger727 said:

 

There is usually a celebrity policy. And then some ships where the staff don't follow the policy to make their customers happy (and probably to get bigger tips). 

I'm sure it's an X policy. However, this in MHO is a very poor policy.

Staffs should follow Company policy. Regardless, if Staff feels different. That's why we never know what is correct, normal procedure or what to do. 

18 hours ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

Certainly different ships will apply policies differently, but the official Celebrity policy is to surcharge in Retreat Lounge now. 

 

Anyone else experiencing this?

Why is this based on ships rather than being an X line policy applicable to all ships.? 

On 12/18/2023 at 7:50 AM, asctony said:

The $3, 354 was booked Jan 2023.

The other 2 prices were as of Dec 2023. Yes, I booked in Jan 2023 and made out great. 

FYI -I finally figured it out. The reason for the price difference. Stupid me!

NONREFUNDABLE ($3,947.58)

                       vs 

REFUNDABLE ($5,607.58)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & CRUISING 

YES, I'M SHOUTING OUT TO ALL OF YOU. LOL

26 minutes ago, SUgwoz said:

It doesn't matter if the people that are spending the money are in debt, they are still purchasing.  Every one of those people could use that money for anything, but choosing a cruise with Royal.  Even if they felt like they had to cruise, several have pointed out other cruising options that are cheaper.

 

If everyone switched to competitors, Royal sailing prices would decline. 

If we read other cruise line CC Forums, you will find the same issues, comments, remarks.

A BIG cutback!

More to come.

Happy Cruising! 

33 minutes ago, KKB said:

Shows were not great.

Trivia is a bit exasperating in 5 languages (hey, I get why they do it & understand)

Not a lot of other activities.

Food was not great. (tho pizza? BEST AT SEA)

At the prices I got, I MIGHT return if these were the biggest issues. 

 

But it was the plethora of rude passengers--pulling lounge chairs anywhere on deck so that it is a maze to walk around ANYWHERE on sun decks; ramming people in back w/ buffet trays; physically moving other people's children aside; no regard for common courtesy regarding lines, etc. These were not one time incidents--they were observed over & over. 

It was stunning.

Most confusing was the SAME behavior on sailings in 2 very different locations.

 

Crew fantastic as on all ships.

 

I have been on many MSC ships since Jan 2006. I must agree with you.

Food - lowest of all cruise lines.

Guests - very inconsiderate.

Ships - beautiful & clean

Prices - excellent

Service - good

MSC is really making a big splash with ask their new ships.

Thanks! 

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Trying to figure out the "why/what" of anything RCI just leads to frustration.

I know. Even my TA can't figure out out. SMH

1 hour ago, KKB said:

I sailed MSC in Feb (Caribbean) & May (Europe)--will never sail them again. (NOT YC)

Numerous Celebrity cruises in 10 years. LOVE Eclass. Tried Retreat on Beyond in April. It was fine but not worth a lot of extra $ (we got a deal--about same as we have paid for balconies)

 

Why? Little about MSC appeals to me. What largely killed it for me is the lack of common courtesy by far too many passengers--on both sailings! (officially 2-B2B cruises, so FOUR sailings).

Now this was not in YC.

(and I read reviews by others saying the same thing...but the prices were so great I had to try. Even free wasn't cheap enough...)

 

But what we realized when we sailed Retreat--we liked it but we are out & about the ship. 

We didn't spend all that much time in the Retreat area.

 

So if you are a person that largely stays in the Retreat/YC area & cabin, I can see the appeal of MSC.

If you are one who is more likely to be out & about the ship--MSC may not be for you.

What did you find that was so bad about the ship once you left the YC? TIA

1 hour ago, alfaeric said:

Supply and demand. Econ101. 
 

In Jan, supply was there, and demand was nominal. Now, so close to sailing, supply is almost gone, and people are willing to pay more. 
 

In the past, the lack of demand would often lower prices after final payment, but demand is so high now that it’s unlikely to happen. Let alone the Royal up process. 

Your missing the whole point. It is Not supply n demand. I'm addressing the same:

 cabin,

 date

both prices displayed from RCI site. 

Only difference is Rate Type. Yet no explanation of what I'm getting for the extra cost. 

32 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Idk but sounds like you said you booked the first jan 2023 and then other was as of dec 2023. The price went up. Were the screen shots taken the same exact day. If not .. then yes of course prices have gone up. Idk enough to know what variables you entered. If I did it I'd have a completely different price. 

Yes, both screenshots for cabin 9239 were taken within seconds of each other.

I understand the price difference between Jan 2023 and Dec 2023.

However, my question is why the difference between the two $3,948 and $5,608 when they are both for the same cabin. The rate type is the difference. What does that mean? 

Can anyone explain the differences in the 2 prices I posted? Same cabin same date. What or why the $1,600 difference?

TIA

13 hours ago, asctony said:

Example, Symphony OTS. Central Park Balcony. B2B 6 day & 8 day.

Booked months ago. Then checked today, 12\17\2023. Same Category Cabin. Pic attached is price of each cruise. 1st booked months ago.

2nd total without $675 bonus.

3rd total with $675 bonus.

Have no idea of what $675 bonus is as I don't see any OBC. Same cabin, same dates.

You figure it out.

Here is pic of computations. I also screen printed the actual quotes with prices for dates and cabin number if anyone doubts my info.

Can anyone explain these prices?

Be nice. I'm just adding info to this.

 

 

 

The $3, 354 was booked Jan 2023.

The other 2 prices were as of Dec 2023. Yes, I booked in Jan 2023 and made out great. 

17 minutes ago, Swagner36 said:

We are coming back to Celebrity because of the other cruise line we were using has lowered their quality and raised their prices.

That sure sounds like all the other cruise lines including Celebrity.

Food, entertainment, perks, pkgs.

See what Celebrity has done within the past year. You will be surprised. 

3 hours ago, MISTER 67 said:

We’ve been on 5 Celebrity cruises since the post pandemic startup and all 5 have been just about exactly what you experienced, the gratuities keep rising and X is a dollar a day per person more than Princess and HAL who we also sail with. Yes, things were better before the pandemic and there have been changes like the room service charge but to tell the truth with 72 cruises on our resume we have never ordered from room service, don’t know why but we enjoy eating in the various restaurants around the ship. Celebrity is still giving us twice a day cabin service with mints on the pillows in the evenings, they also always have some kind of snack in the bars when you are having a cocktail, little things like that are a plus, we were on the Sky Princess last week and had a nice cruise but there were no snacks with cocktails and no mints on the pillows. 

No mints or snacks. I agree. However, what is the difference in price and packages?

Princess pkgs includes tips, however, X eliminated the tips from their pkgs.

Specialty Restaurants are 2x more on X. 

Compare Apples to Apples. 

Example, Symphony OTS. Central Park Balcony. B2B 6 day & 8 day.

Booked months ago. Then checked today, 12\17\2023. Same Category Cabin. Pic attached is price of each cruise. 1st booked months ago.

2nd total without $675 bonus.

3rd total with $675 bonus.

Have no idea of what $675 bonus is as I don't see any OBC. Same cabin, same dates.

You figure it out.

Here is pic of computations. I also screen printed the actual quotes with prices for dates and cabin number if anyone doubts my info.

Can anyone explain these prices?

Be nice. I'm just adding info to this.