Royal Caribbean - The Nickel and Dime Cruise Line

[Cruising89143]

All cruises are deteriorating be it Royal Caribbean or Holland America. Cruisings' best days are over in terms of a quality product. The cruise lines are following the "airline model" to a tee.

 

Worldspan

132 cruises strong

 

 

I disagree. I started cruising in 1986 and IMHO the product has actually improved.

 

My first cabin was a 110 square foot standard outside cabin with a bathroom so small that one could do everything standing in one spot. On my first cruise all meals were taken in the MDR with a set time. There was no lido dining or room service. If you missed your meal time then you missed a meal. Entertainment was in a one level showroom with some really cheesy singers and dancers. All of this for $1500.00 per person for a seven night cruise in the western Caribbean. I will admit that the overall quality of food was better than today's MDR food but back in the day food was the main topic of crusing. It surely wasn't the accommodations or entertainment. :)

 

Of course I know that some may like what I described above but I love the options given today. Everyone pays a base price for their choice of accommodations and then each of us has a choice of what we want to enjoy on board. I am one that really enjoys the specialty dining venues. We enjoy the suites and the amenities that go along with. So many more choices today.

 

I don't see any of this as a nickle and dime issue. I see it as having a choice.

[poncho1973]

If you can't simply say NO to a few things, how do you make it through life?

 

 

 

On the otherhand... I'm not sure how anyone could call Royal a nickel & dime cruise line after reading a long article about the NCL Breakway this morning. WOW! I really want to go on that ship, but they listed a "cover charge" or "small fee" for like 100 different things. It is like nothing is included on that ship! I would still like to try it, but that was really discouraging.

[ilionite65]

I am so glad that my food taste is a variety of things that include...Fast food, Mom & Pop diners, 5 star restaurants, Buffet Restaurants, little hole in the wall joints, Outback, Chili's, Applebee's, Carabba's, MDR, Windjammer, Portifino, Chops, Food Courts in the Mall, Hot dogs in the convience stores, back yard BBQ and so on! I can always find something to eat that I like, anywhere! On my cruises I haven't had anything that was just so God Awful Nasty that I just couldn't it!

Reading some of these threads sometimes make me think that there are people that come off these cruise suffering from malnutrtion! :rolleyes:

 

I love, love, love this post! So true! I feel the same about all the different venues for food and depending on my mood actually look forward to fast food sometimes. Life's too short to get so bent out of shape over food!

[torpeedo]

Agree 100% with Cruisingator 2. Took my first cruises in 1986 on NCL Starward & followed up in 1987 on NCL Windward. Ships were 22,000 GTW & the experience was exactly as Cruisingator2 stated. We moved over to Holland Westerdam in 1990, but very little changed except for a slightly larger ship and more gracious service thanks to the Indonesian wait staff.

 

For some reason many people seem to have unrealistic /romantic ideas of what mass market cruising was all about "back then." There were no balcony cabins, Inside & OV cabins were relatively tiny and bathrooms were a joke. And I haven't even addressed the price we paid for the experience.

But we did love cruising and persevered.

 

I agree the MDR food was better, and service more personalized. But we can now go to Chops & Portofino and we are still ahead of the game. We have a choice as to cabin style, food & entertainment. And all now priced considerably lower per person to what I paid for my first cruises in 1986 & 1987 for a porthole cabin on a lower deck.

 

I never cruised on Cunard or any other upscale cruise line back then, so I can't compare that experience with NCL or Holland. But the price of a cruise on that level was out of my reach.

[Friend100]

For some reason many people seem to have unrealistic /romantic ideas of what mass market cruising was all about "back then."

 

"back then" is probably the key ... not just about cruising but about life in general. There were many things in my memory that, looking back from now, feel quite romantic even though I may not felt it that way back then. :)

[cathep]

"back then" is probably the key ... not just about cruising but about life in general. There were many things in my memory that, looking back from now, feel quite romantic even though I may not felt it that way back then. :)

 

Exactly.

[tlatrice]

Ha! I finally made it! 15 pages! :D

[jbond]

Our first cruise on RCI was a 14 day cruise on Nordic Prince in 1980. It cost $1717 including airfare. It was in an outside cabin on deck 3. We just cruised Mariner in a balcony cabin on a seven day cruise for $2100 pp including airfare. If we'd made it B2B it would have been $3400 for 14 days. $1717 1980 dollars would be $4710 in 2012 dollars. That's a $1310 difference. I can afford a lot of nickel and diming.

[cruzincurt]

Our first cruise on the Carnival Fantasy in 1996 was $2200 for an inside, 4 days...........Just spent $1750 for a 7 day balcony on the EPIC.......Things have gotten way better.

[WeLuvVacation]

If everything was included and there was no 5 and 10 centing the cruise fare would be twice as much pp. And most people would not be able to use the specialty restaurants as they have a limited capacity so imagine the mob scene to get a reservation!

 

This is why your are 5 and 10 cented.

 

Pay for what you want or pay nothing except your basic cruise fare it's up to you, but to expect "all inclusive" well it isn't gonna happen.

 

And quite honestly all the mass market cruise lines do the 5 and 10 centing it isn't only RC.

[SharkCruiser24]

I agree with you on the nickel and diming portion. I have noticed that big time throughout the past few years. Nickel and diming was a point of lots of discussion during my coursework for my Hospitality degree. It has grown so epidemically it has become practically irreversible. Theme parks charge $15 to park, these the same people paying nearly $95 per person to visit their park! Hotels in big/tourist cities force you to valet your car each night, or pay for self parking. Airlines charge for bags which their paying passengers need. And now cruise lines call dinner in the dining room and shows complementary. The world of hospitality has indeed gone topsy-turvey in this aspect. Revenue management has become the newest and baddest kid on the block trying to find a way to increase the bottom line. Whether it began with specialty restaurants or paid ship tours I don't know. I do know it's, sadly, not going away. I do think it will expand, Celebrity's doing it and I am sure HAL will start soon enough.

[poncho1973]

Ha! I finally made it! 15 pages! :D

 

I'm on Page 8

[lovetocruiserccl]

Who owns Seattle's Best......duh Starbucks. I guess when you have to pay for it, it taste better. :o

 

Love To Cruise RCCL

[Morecruisesplz]

I agree with you on the nickel and diming portion. I have noticed that big time throughout the past few years. Nickel and diming was a point of lots of discussion during my coursework for my Hospitality degree. It has grown so epidemically it has become practically irreversible. Theme parks charge $15 to park, these the same people paying nearly $95 per person to visit their park! Hotels in big/tourist cities force you to valet your car each night, or pay for self parking. Airlines charge for bags which their paying passengers need. And now cruise lines call dinner in the dining room and shows complementary. The world of hospitality has indeed gone topsy-turvey in this aspect. Revenue management has become the newest and baddest kid on the block trying to find a way to increase the bottom line. Whether it began with specialty restaurants or paid ship tours I don't know. I do know it's, sadly, not going away. I do think it will expand, Celebrity's doing it and I am sure HAL will start soon enough.

 

The only difference is that cruise prices have come down dramatically while all other entertainment costs go up. So add up your nickles and dimes and you are still paying less to cruise.

[abridalmaven]

I prefer to pay for the things I want to use and not pay for things I don't want. No offense to the OP, but my choices of what I want included may not agree with what you want. So why should I be forced to pay for those. No, I'm happy with the way things are.

 

 

 

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[Donut23]

I agree with you on the nickel and diming portion. I have noticed that big time throughout the past few years. Nickel and diming was a point of lots of discussion during my coursework for my Hospitality degree. It has grown so epidemically it has become practically irreversible. Theme parks charge $15 to park, these the same people paying nearly $95 per person to visit their park! Hotels in big/tourist cities force you to valet your car each night, or pay for self parking. Airlines charge for bags which their paying passengers need. And now cruise lines call dinner in the dining room and shows complementary. The world of hospitality has indeed gone topsy-turvey in this aspect. Revenue management has become the newest and baddest kid on the block trying to find a way to increase the bottom line. Whether it began with specialty restaurants or paid ship tours I don't know. I do know it's, sadly, not going away. I do think it will expand, Celebrity's doing it and I am sure HAL will start soon enough.

 

 

 

 

Want to meet the king of nickel and dimeing? Fly on over to see the mouse in Orlando. Mickey is the guy!

 

Only difference, they have the kahoonahs to tell you it's all for customer satisfaction as they continue to lay off staff.

 

How do we know? DH is a 34 year castmember and watched the changes.

 

Now open your wallet!!

[mytank]

I agree the coffee is crap on RCL ... They serve settles best, which is actually owned by Starbucks...

 

Sorry the rest of your trip wasn't as you expected.