Med Itineraries now up (IND and ADV), Prices REDICULOUS!!!!!

[will773]

My first choice cruise, a 14 Night Italian Mediterranean on the Independence of the seas, is STARTING at $2,424 per person for an INSIDE cabin!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

 

On carnival I can get 12 days in a balcony for $500 less. This is ridiculous!

[SadmanCruiser]

I agree. It is cheaper for us to fly to the US and cruise than it is to take a cruise from Southampton. I am sure we will see lots of 'sales' on the cruises from Southampton as they are priced far too high.

 

SadMan & Wifey

[will773]

I remember last year it started out around $1,900 USD for the same sailing. Now with two ships, you think the price would go down. There better be some sails, or else we will be taking our business elsewhere.

 

EDIT: Just looked again, and if my family wanted to squeeze 4 pretty big people into one cabin (not gonna happen), they are charging $2,300 for 3rd and 4th guests in a balcony. Somethings gotta give.

[cruisenfever]

My first choice cruise, a 14 Night Italian Mediterranean on the Independence of the seas, is STARTING at $2,424 per person for an INSIDE cabin!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

 

On carnival I can get 12 days in a balcony for $500 less. This is ridiculous!

That price was for a departure date in July. Prices are slightly lower in June and August, but not much.

[will773]

That price was for a departure date in July. Prices are slightly lower in June and August, but not much.

 

Yea I know...but the June one might be too early (but only by 1 or 2 days!!!!!!! GRR) and the August one was pretty much the same price.

[negc]

My first choice cruise, a 14 Night Italian Mediterranean on the Independence of the seas, is STARTING at $2,424 per person for an INSIDE cabin!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

 

On carnival I can get 12 days in a balcony for $500 less. This is ridiculous!

 

Only if they can't get those prices. If the price difference adversely affects sales, you can be sure that they will drop, but basing your opinion on the price solely by comparing it to the price available on another ship or another line disregards many possible reasons for the price difference. Only time will tell if you are correct as far as the reasonableness of the price goes but to expect RCI to base their charges solely on the price being charged by their competition is unrealistic.

[trolleydolly]

Yea I know...but the June one might be too early (but only by 1 or 2 days!!!!!!! GRR) and the August one was pretty much the same price.

 

The price for the 14 night med in June is more than £2000 cheaper than august!! So im afraid whilst our son is still quite young we are going to take him out of school and go in June. As far as I'm concerned travel is as much of an education as anything he will miss in 10 days of school!

 

I'm sure some will not agree with me on this though!!

 

My only concern is will there be 'enough' other children on board whose parents have the same feeling as us!!

 

I will wait for those 'bad' parent comments!! :eek:

[will773]

The price for the 14 night med in June is more than £2000 cheaper than august!! So im afraid whilst our son is still quite young we are going to take him out of school and go in June. As far as I'm concerned travel is as much of an education as anything he will miss in 10 days of school!

 

I'm sure some will not agree with me on this though!!

 

My only concern is will there be 'enough' other children on board whose parents have the same feeling as us!!

 

I will wait for those 'bad' parent comments!! :eek:

 

I'm thinking this is the best bet. I will be graduating high school that week, not sure which day (probably June 11th or 12th). That gives 2-3 days before hand in London. I think that could be doable. It's so much cheaper.

 

I will still wait until next week to see what's available on some of the shorter sailings.

[will773]

Only if they can't get those prices. If the price difference adversely affects sales, you can be sure that they will drop, but basing your opinion on the price solely by comparing it to the price available on another ship or another line disregards many possible reasons for the price difference. Only time will tell if you are correct as far as the reasonableness of the price goes but to expect RCI to base their charges solely on the price being charged by their competition is unrealistic.

 

Yes I know that comparing them to the competition doesn't really mean anything. But these are very high prices. I guess we could always book a cabin and hope for a price drop and if not then cancel.

[waterbug123]

Independence of the seas, is STARTING at $2,424 per person for an INSIDE cabin!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

 

On carnival I can get 12 days in a balcony for $500 less. This is ridiculous!

 

You said Indy was your first choice. Obviously, it must be a lot of other people's first choice too. Hence, the higher prices. Supply and demand and all....

 

I remember last year it started out around $1,900 USD for the same sailing. Now with two ships, you think the price would go down. There better be some sails, or else we will be taking our business elsewhere.

 

EDIT: Just looked again, and if my family wanted to squeeze 4 pretty big people into one cabin (not gonna happen), they are charging $2,300 for 3rd and 4th guests in a balcony. Somethings gotta give.

 

Not necessarily. If there are people willing to pay that price, the cabins will sell and nothing will have to give.

 

Yea I know...but the June one might be too early (but only by 1 or 2 days!!!!!!! GRR) and the August one was pretty much the same price.

 

So you're looking at July? For a Med cruise? That's peak season for Med cruises; expect higher prices.

[Wilda]

Interesting- I've been looking at a 7-night out of Malaga on Adventure for $443 pp in a balcony guarantee...although it's in June. The airfare to get us there was over $2,000:eek: Overall I do agree that the pricing is prohibitive...especially when you have to factor in the cost of getting there.

[trolleydolly]

I guess one consolation for us though is that we live 1 and a half hrs drive from Southampton so no flights involved. That's why we will pay the prices as it's an absolute dream not to fly anywhere....

[blueblock]

I anticipate that the prices will be lower on the ships that begin and end in the Mediterranean (hoping those cruises will be out later this week). The ones that sail from England always seem to command a higher price, perhaps because they are so convenient for English passengers.

[Familygoboston]

The price for the 14 night med in June is more than £2000 cheaper than august!! So im afraid whilst our son is still quite young we are going to take him out of school and go in June. As far as I'm concerned travel is as much of an education as anything he will miss in 10 days of school!

 

I'm sure some will not agree with me on this though!!

 

My only concern is will there be 'enough' other children on board whose parents have the same feeling as us!!

 

I will wait for those 'bad' parent comments!! :eek:

You won't hear them from me...my parents pulled me out of school for an important educational trips and Hmmmm, I can't remember what I missed at school? But I do remember the trips! :D And graduated from University with a better than 3.0 average, so I must have learned something even though I missed a week of lectures here and there along the way!

 

I do the same with my own girls now. 2 years ago I planned an Africa trip without a day to spare after HS final exams for my eldest daughter. Figured that trip was more valuable than any final exam:rolleyes:. Turns out we lucked into a winter with no snow and we left the day after her last exam!

[shemp2000]

My first choice cruise, a 14 Night Italian Mediterranean on the Independence of the seas, is STARTING at $2,424 per person for an INSIDE cabin!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

 

On carnival I can get 12 days in a balcony for $500 less. This is ridiculous!

 

We booked this same cruise for this summer 2012, June 2 almost 1 year ago for around $1750 inside. The price is the only reason we even looked at it.

 

I hope for you it drops in price, ours never did.

[Friend100]

These are starting brochure prices. I am expecting prices will be adjusted up or down depends on demand over the booking period.

[hummy0605]

The price for the 14 night med in June is more than £2000 cheaper than august!! So im afraid whilst our son is still quite young we are going to take him out of school and go in June. As far as I'm concerned travel is as much of an education as anything he will miss in 10 days of school!

 

I'm sure some will not agree with me on this though!!

 

My only concern is will there be 'enough' other children on board whose parents have the same feeling as us!!

 

I will wait for those 'bad' parent comments!! :eek:

 

I work in a school as guess what....Attendance Officer. I would never say you are a bad parent for wanting to take your child out of school during termtime because the prices rise drastically during school holidays. If I didn't work in a school (I can't take time off any other time) then I would take my holidays when it was cheaper. They are getting more of an education being on a family holiday, seeing the world and gaining new experiences. Yes education is important and they should try not to miss too much of school but weigh it up in the bigger picture and hey ho. Enjoy (if your school has a lovely person like me get them a bottle of red and chocs and blag it by saying they are ill for a few days!!!)

[Friend100]

My first choice cruise, a 14 Night Italian Mediterranean on the Independence of the seas, is STARTING at $2,424 per person for an INSIDE cabin!!!!!!!!!! :eek:

 

On carnival I can get 12 days in a balcony for $500 less. This is ridiculous!

 

On a per diem basis, an inside on the Independence of the Seas is just 8% more expensive than a balcony on the Carnival Legend.

 

Does this sound a bit less ridiculous? ;)

[Shelley61]

I looked at a balcony on the Adventure in May 2013 for the 13 night Iceland cruise - GBP1,650 each direct with RCI is much cheaper than the £2,000 we paid each on Indy for 14 nights - perhaps they're averaging it out by rolling out UK prices to everyone!

 

The travel agent we used last time is advertising the same cruise at "from" £1,369 for a balcony - of course, whether you can get that price is another matter.

 

Considering we've just paid £900 each for a land based holiday in Gran Canaria - the £1,369 is looking very appealing right now!

[will773]

On a per diem basis, an inside on the Independence of the Seas is just 8% more expensive than a balcony on the Carnival Legend.

 

Does this sound a bit less ridiculous? ;)

 

No, it doesn't because I don't want to sail on the Legend. For the itinerary I would be looking at on the Sunshine, the Independence is 116% more expensive (almost $1500 pp more).

[rjrpar]

We usually cruise RCCL but last Sept. did a 12 day Med. cruise on the Carnival Magic. A balcony cost us about $1800/person. it was great, nice ship, comparable experience to RCCL. Also, the ports are so busy, the cruiseline is less of a factor than in the Caribbean.

[Familygoboston]

Sorry! Weird unexplained duplicate post

[will773]

The June one actually isn't that bad...if you put 4 in a cabin. You can get a Grand Suite for less than 2 balconies.

[PurpleJet]

I agree. It is cheaper for us to fly to the US and cruise than it is to take a cruise from Southampton. ...

 

Same for us - the prices out of Southampton are a complete joke. I have never really seen a significant price drop for these cruises and can't believe how expensive they are.

 

Would rather pay the airfare and cruise out of the US.

[CruiseAdict218]

I'm thinking this is the best bet. I will be graduating high school that week, not sure which day (probably June 11th or 12th). That gives 2-3 days before hand in London. I think that could be doable. It's so much cheaper.

 

I will still wait until next week to see what's available on some of the shorter sailings.

 

Your graduating in 2013? and Looking at the Independance, $799 for a transatlantic, thats pretty cheap, but not the ship I'm looking to do.