I think I may be done....

[kjkrmk]

I am reminded of a story a friend shared about his son. They went to a national chain fast food restaurant and the young man made the decision to purchase his first LARGE meal. He was so excited to finally be a "big boy" and get the Large meal instead of the kids meal. The food came, dad paid and off to the table to open up and admire the meal. He nearly cried when he saw it. The drink was enormous, more than he could drink in a day! The container of fries must have held three times the fries of a kids meal! But, still, the young man was crushed...The sandwich was the same size as his dad's regular meal. The large meal didn't come with a larger sandwich...just more of the side items. Dad had to explain it all to him.

 

How does this relate? Expectations don't always match reality. The boy didn't understand the concept of a large fast food meal and how it differs from a normal one. Buying a suite on a ship and paying more for it doesn't get you better food or better drinks than those offered to passengers in a deck 2 inside cabin. It gets you a nicer room and a few other perks. The burger isn't bigger...just more fries....

Edited December 24, 2014 by kjkrmk

[ramses51]

With 250+ days on Seabourn and 28 days on RCCL (with three new cruises booked on RCCL) I dare say: Try Seabourn. We are far away from being 80 years old and enjoyed every single day on board. But also be aware: To cruise on Seabourn is a quite different thing than cruising on RCCL.

[Nancyluvs2cruise]

I really enjoyed my cruise on Allure as it was a change of pace. I went the week after Thanksgiving so there were not many kids on board, but those who were were quite little. Spent lots of time dodging giant strollers that are bigger than the adult mobility devices! I am used to Celebrity, so I have little experience with RCCL. The Dreamworks characters were new to me, not even too sure of their names. I am Diamond on RCCL only because of my points on Celebrity. Celebrity would be my choice, but since I live only 2 hours from the ports in Cape Canaveral and Tampa, it is a lot easier to just hop on there. I hate the drive to Ft. Lauderdale. I hope someday Celebrity will sail from Port Canaveral, but that will certainly not stop me from taking a one week trip from local ports, even if the ship is more child oriented. In fact I will be taking my grandchildren on a cruise for spring break, probably on Freedom of the Seas. I hear that is a nice ship and would be fun for a 9 and 11 year old. Every line has their niche market, and RCCL's is kids. It's just the way it is. No kids in the Schooner bar, though...

[Wilda]

OP, DH and I just had this conversation when we got off the ship on Sunday. Although our reasons are different from yours we are probably going to take a break from cruising overall.

 

I love the ships, thought the crew was fabulous, food was good, etc.,. We are experiencing the "been there, done that" feeling and it has nothing to do with the RCI product. We took the kids and grandkids and got to experience the week through a fresh lens....but at the end of the day I think we will do more land-based vacations.

 

It may be for just a year (or possibly not even if there was a really fabulous sale;)) so I will never say never...but we have hit a saturation point. Perhaps when Anthem is delivered to NJ and the prices stabilize we may come back.

[mommabean]

With 250+ days on Seabourn and 28 days on RCCL (with three new cruises booked on RCCL) I dare say: Try Seabourn. We are far away from being 80 years old and enjoyed every single day on board. But also be aware: To cruise on Seabourn is a quite different thing than cruising on RCCL.

 

We have a friend who just finished a Seabourn cruise and kept us updated along the way.

 

Nice - to put it mildly.

 

We saw a lot of really cool experiences he had on board and on shore. Officers were extremely involved, too.

 

The least expensive rooms are pretty great and not at all tiny. This is something we are considering doing at some point but it might be a couple of years from now.

 

Thanks for your input.

[gkbiiii]

I agree with the OP and have my first Crystal cruise booked for next December. I am going to book a 5 night on Liberty in January and see how the experience is. If things don't go well as they did on Quantum; I will seriously consider canceling my 2016, 16 night Suez Canal cruise, in a JR suite.

 

If you get a reasonable sale, the price difference between a luxury line (ocean view room) and a suite on Royal is the same. I do plan to try Holland America in 2015 and Cunard by 2016.

 

Princess was nice, but I was not as fond of the vive of the ships. Disney is the standard, I judge other lines on, however the line is limited, with MANY children & no casino.

 

I am also interested in trying (within 5-10 years) Star Clippers, CDF, the Europa II, The Deuchland, and Uniworld river cruises.

 

 

There is a big world out there, so its time to explore it!!

[gkbiiii]

I am reminded of a story a friend shared about his son. They went to a national chain fast food restaurant and the young man made the decision to purchase his first LARGE meal. He was so excited to finally be a "big boy" and get the Large meal instead of the kids meal. The food came, dad paid and off to the table to open up and admire the meal. He nearly cried when he saw it. The drink was enormous, more than he could drink in a day! The container of fries must have held three times the fries of a kids meal! But, still, the young man was crushed...The sandwich was the same size as his dad's regular meal. The large meal didn't come with a larger sandwich...just more of the side items. Dad had to explain it all to him.

 

How does this relate? Expectations don't always match reality. The boy didn't understand the concept of a large fast food meal and how it differs from a normal one. Buying a suite on a ship and paying more for it doesn't get you better food or better drinks than those offered to passengers in a deck 2 inside cabin. It gets you a nicer room and a few other perks. The burger isn't bigger...just more fries....

 

 

I see that the cruise industry is changing back toward the model of a full class structure, as seen with Cunard & airline travel. MSC has The Yacht Club, NCL The Haven, Celebrity New Suite Dining rooms/Blue, Costa Spa dining rooms, and Royal with the Quantum & California Kitchen.

 

We are in a new era of the airlines: First/Business/Premium Economy/Coach. Costa & MSC already (as of late 2014) have this pricing scheme; with new benefits based on what pricing category booked (much like Delta's new pricing for coach).

[critterchick]

I've always supported anyone I've seen mention this. I'll let people say what they want about it. You and I know what's going on as do some others who might not want to step up and say anything.

 

The state of Florida got onto them about not exposing the taxes up front so now they show that on the pricing page. I'm surprised they haven't gotten approached by the state concerning this bogus pricing technique.

 

We got a couple of good deals on the first BOGOHO promotion, but only the first couple of days it was out. For the most part, I agree that RCI has simply jacked up prices and then given a "discount," but I don't know that it constitutes fraud for them to do that. Retailers have done that for decades now without any apparent legal consequences.

 

I imagine that the state of Florida won't get involved unless somebody lodges a complaint with them.

[jgnova]

I agree to an extent. We've been mostly on Celebrity with our first RCL coming up in two weeks. Celebrity is nice, but has also cut back on staffing ratios. There are multiple reasons this is happening:

 

First, overbuilding - the number of available cruise beds to fill. The top end sells quality over price. The mid-tier and below sell price and a pastiche of quality, as it's hard to explain why a $1,000 cruise on Royal is worth more than the same itinerary at $600 on Carnival (just an example, not necessarily real). They both offer three plus meals a day, cabin, entertainment, bars, casinos, etc. So the average person will buy price. And they have to fill all those new cabins!

 

Second, as the ships have become larger and added more venues, each of those venues needs to be staffed. So if you have two ships that have 2,500 passengers and one has only the MDR, buffet, and three bars, while the other adds five more bars, three specialty restaurants, a second pool, a coffee shop, and an ice cream place - but keep the same staff to passenger ratio - each of those venues now has fewer people to provide that attention.

 

Third, costs have gone up but people don't want to pay more. So, again, options (steak dinners, etc.) go down to reduce costs.

 

Not sure what else to say. I still like cruising because we can usually drive to the port from DC or combine it with a grandkid visit to Miami. And, despite the complaints, it is still a better experience than the all-inclusives in Jamaica or Dominican Republic. The three-year worn cabins are nicer than those places even when they're new, and have better food and service for about the same price per night/per person, especially when transportation is factored in.

 

One suggestion - try a river cruise. We took one on the Danube in 2006 and it was fantastic.

 

j

[Paulette3028]

I am reminded of a story a friend shared about his son. They went to a national chain fast food restaurant and the young man made the decision to purchase his first LARGE meal. He was so excited to finally be a "big boy" and get the Large meal instead of the kids meal. The food came, dad paid and off to the table to open up and admire the meal. He nearly cried when he saw it. The drink was enormous, more than he could drink in a day! The container of fries must have held three times the fries of a kids meal! But, still, the young man was crushed...The sandwich was the same size as his dad's regular meal. The large meal didn't come with a larger sandwich...just more of the side items. Dad had to explain it all to him.

 

How does this relate? Expectations don't always match reality. The boy didn't understand the concept of a large fast food meal and how it differs from a normal one. Buying a suite on a ship and paying more for it doesn't get you better food or better drinks than those offered to passengers in a deck 2 inside cabin. It gets you a nicer room and a few other perks. The burger isn't bigger...just more fries....

 

Your analogy of the kids meal/large meal to the regular cabin/suite is not accurate.....the suite guest on a cruise ship does get a bigger cabin that comes with some very nice additional perks.......not just the more of what people have in the regular cabins.

[Paulette3028]

I agree to an extent. We've been mostly on Celebrity with our first RCL coming up in two weeks. Celebrity is nice, but has also cut back on staffing ratios. There are multiple reasons this is happening:

 

First, overbuilding - the number of available cruise beds to fill. The top end sells quality over price. The mid-tier and below sell price and a pastiche of quality, as it's hard to explain why a $1,000 cruise on Royal is worth more than the same itinerary at $600 on Carnival (just an example, not necessarily real). They both offer three plus meals a day, cabin, entertainment, bars, casinos, etc. So the average person will buy price. And they have to fill all those new cabins!

 

Second, as the ships have become larger and added more venues, each of those venues needs to be staffed. So if you have two ships that have 2,500 passengers and one has only the MDR, buffet, and three bars, while the other adds five more bars, three specialty restaurants, a second pool, a coffee shop, and an ice cream place - but keep the same staff to passenger ratio - each of those venues now has fewer people to provide that attention.

 

Third, costs have gone up but people don't want to pay more. So, again, options (steak dinners, etc.) go down to reduce costs.

 

Not sure what else to say. I still like cruising because we can usually drive to the port from DC or combine it with a grandkid visit to Miami. And, despite the complaints, it is still a better experience than the all-inclusives in Jamaica or Dominican Republic. The three-year worn cabins are nicer than those places even when they're new, and have better food and service for about the same price per night/per person, especially when transportation is factored in.

 

One suggestion - try a river cruise. We took one on the Danube in 2006 and it was fantastic.

 

 

 

When you talk about 'overbuilding' -- if you are going to make a price comparison, use a REAL one to make and substantiate your argument, or in my mind your point of view doesn't make sense.

[seaofwonder]

We've been saying this since our allure cruise in August 2013. We've cruised a few times since then and were disappointed.

 

We're stepping away from royal, and possibly from cruising altogether, for a while.

 

Next up is an ncl cruise combined with some traveling in Europe. Land trip to Ireland and Asia are also in the works.

 

Cruising has always been this nice compromise for dh and I....but even he is getting bored.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[mommabean]

We got a couple of good deals on the first BOGOHO promotion, but only the first couple of days it was out. For the most part, I agree that RCI has simply jacked up prices and then given a "discount," but I don't know that it constitutes fraud for them to do that. Retailers have done that for decades now without any apparent legal consequences.

 

I imagine that the state of Florida won't get involved unless somebody lodges a complaint with them.

 

I never saw a problem with not stating the taxes up front prior to going more fully through the booking process but they were told to do it from what I understand. I don't know what happened initially to bring about that change. I don't know what constitutes fraud either but the pricing still seems bogus to me since no one ever pays or has paid the first person price for the respective cruise.

 

I always think of the KB Toys class action lawsuit over their jacking up prices then redlining them and repricing them - on every item in the store. They resolved it by offering 30% off everything for a certain period and then proceeded to go out of business. That's the simple version.

[DaisyL]

I'm sorry but I stopped reading after the first 20 posts but I certainly understand (and agree with) what you're saying.

 

We had the opportunity to stay at a high end ski lodge in Vermont, in season, in an upper tier 4 bedroom suite. It was a gift to my SIL from her executive boss and she asked us to join them. The way it was described, I thought it would feel like heaven and we would be so out of place with the elite. Concierge, daily breakfast, valet parking, special privileges, the 'whole 9 yards' ... blah, blah.

 

Bottom line; we kept comparing it to a cruise and prefer the cruise experience much more. I have to admit the 'apartment' was gorgeous but outside of that the hotel itself was far below anything we experience on a cruise. Crowds everywhere, lines everywhere, dining crowded, expensive and bad service, concierge not doing anything, the breakfast was atrocious ... and the 'elite' were a bunch of rude cads. All this for thousands of dollars per night (if we were paying for it!)... not including meals or entertainment.

 

I'll take my standard balcony cabin, on a mainstream cruise line, any day. But I must admit the cruise experience is not as special as it was even 10 years ago.

 

Although we have only cruised on RCI ships twice, we were very pleased and look forward to our next 2 cruises with them. Most of our cruises have been on NCL and we really love them too for different reasons, we were displeased with several issues on the Breakaway a few weeks ago. Way too crowded and no special place to enjoy in the evening; jammed bars lined up like a school cafeteria or lack of seating or the atrocity of having entertainment in the atrium. The most rude passengers we have ever encountered, overworked and understaffed crew, and water-downed drinks (really, what is added to a Beefeater Martini that comes out of the bar fountain?). Anyway, we'll continue to cruise on RCI and NCL but be a little more discerning with our choice ships, since we still enjoy the cruising experience.

 

Please let us know what you decide and how your future experiences are.

[LMaxwell]

Your analogy of the kids meal/large meal to the regular cabin/suite is not accurate.....the suite guest on a cruise ship does get a bigger cabin that comes with some very nice additional perks.......not just the more of what people have in the regular cabins.

 

The perks are really just the "more fries" part. The core of the package; the cruise vacation, most of the available food, the entertainment, the port stops...they are the same whether you on 'da boat for $1K or for $15K.

 

I say it similarly; instead of a better piece of meat, you get the same meat with more sauce on it. That's not meant as LITERALLY the piece of meat, it is a figurative term.

[London-Calling]

Maybe I'm just burned out because of the "sameness".

 

You definitely need a change from RCI. Variety is the spice of life.

 

If you want a different mass-market experience try NCL's Epic, Breakaway, Getaway and Escape (soon).

 

If you want higher quality and less crowded ships, it's got to be 'Celebrity' or 'Cunard'.

Edited December 25, 2014 by London-Calling

[kjkrmk]

Your analogy of the kids meal/large meal to the regular cabin/suite is not accurate.....the suite guest on a cruise ship does get a bigger cabin that comes with some very nice additional perks.......not just the more of what people have in the regular cabins.

 

No You missed the point of the analogy. That being inaccurate assumptions leading to false expectations.

[Paulette3028]

No You missed the point of the analogy. That being inaccurate assumptions leading to false expectations.

 

I don't think you made your point as clear as you are doing now, which I do agree with -- Inaccurate assumptions due lead to false expectations.....and then add that 'false expectations by the cruiser, can never be lived up to by the cruise line' no matter what the cruise line does provide.