Has anybody else noticed that prices are up 50% from last year?

[BecciBoo]

After much indecision have decided that for us and I repeat for us we have decided that cruising is not worth the price anymore. 25 cruises and diamond plus. The last few cruises it seems that they keep taking away things that were always included in the cruise. Diamond discount coupons are a good example. First it was get a free item and now its get a free item if you buy an item. The price of premium dinning is something that really peeves me. In the earlier years, since 86, the dinning was outstanding, but now if you want the same food experience you need to fork over another thirty dollars per person for one meal. As has been said on cruise critic by many others the nickel and dime is getting out of hand. We have always tip above the amount for the great service we have always received in years past. With the tips being added on, the service is much less than in years past. I will miss those days at sea but it just is not worth it anymore. For those of you that have not experienced the better days of cruising I'm sure I'll get flamed for this post. Goodbye to what use to be the best vacation.

 

I sympathize with some of what you said, but if you really search for the deals you will find them. The trick is to book as early as possible, or be willing to take what cabins are left and book last minute. Then you will find the lower prices.

 

Our cabin on Legend to Hawaii from Ensenada was $629 per person when we booked it in April. Granted, it is an interior, but for $1400 we get 10 days and 4 islands in Hawaii. You can't beat that. I'm just hoping after 19 cruises RCCL may upgrade us!!!!

 

And our 2016 cruise on Liberty out of Galveston was booked just as early for $1449 for Western Caribbean, balcony this time. Those that are just now booking it are paying $2400 for the same cabin now.

 

As for the food. It's all subjective. We don't tend to do special dining any more for the reasons you mention, but MDR will do. I can't give up cruising for those little things, they're just not important enough to me. I have to be on the Big Blue and still love RCCL's ships.

Edited January 7, 2015 by BecciBoo

[OntCruise]

We really want to try Royal again - specifically the Allure or Oasis, but the cost keeps us from coming back. We need 2 cabins for a family of 5 and it's just way too expensive, especially since the itineries are not all that appealing.

 

Also we fly from Michigan and the flights to Florida have risen dramatically over the last few years AND the Canadian dollar sucks right now ... so for now we'll stick with Carnival. Best bang for your buck and we haven't had a cruise yet we didn't enjoy thoroughly!

Edited January 7, 2015 by OntCruise

[spookwife]

Is everybody sticking with Royal or migrating to other lines? I just hit Diamond so I'm inclined to stay but not at roughly double the price what I'm used to paying.

 

 

with the exception of gas, prices every where have been going up. why should cruises be any different?

 

every cruise we have taken over the past 18 months has been roughly the same price for the same category cabin. including next week's

[CaribSailor]

We love to cruise but I agree with most of posts here. We usually cruise 2-3 times a year and are now considering more land based vacations. We will still cruise but the value isn't what it was. Maybe 1 a year or every other. There are great deals around for many resorts in the Caribbean and flights are reasonable.

 

Just got the Ritz in St. Thomas in an ocean suite for 1.5k less than our last 7 day cruise including flights for 10 days. So I have to pay for food?? Not a big deal.

 

 

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[ISABELLA]

I think RCI, including Celebrity raised all their pricing to accommodate all their PROMOs - somebody has to pay for drinking packages.

I see price increases for the same time of the year I like to travel about 20%.

But I also see price drops after final payment for a popular ships and destinations. I have 2 Celebrity and 1 on Anthem booked thru April, 2016 and then I will try to get specials. No more booking in advance at the prices that are too high.

[AmandaKaye79]

Not true about the last minute drops. The Thanksgiving cruise on Brilliance for last month was selling cabins for $459 pp when we checked. We booked Carnival for that week for $209pp. A week before the cruise, Brilliance rates were $199pp. I would have loved to sail Thanksgiving with royal but due to the prices, I had already booked with Carnival. Unfortunate for me.

 

 

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[LuvBNatC]

despite all the posts indicating that longtime loyal RCI cruisers haven't, or aren't, booking new cruises with the line, their ships still seem to be sailing full, so I don't think that RCI really cares if they are losing veteran cruisers as long as they continue to attract new ones and continue to sail at, or near, capacity.

 

Woe to any company selling a product who doesn't try to retain repeat customers. If RCCL thinks it's going to continue luring an endless herd of cruising newbies who don't really know what they're buying while it prices itself beyond newbies' vacation budget, RCCL is in for a rude awakening after the "loyal to Royal" crowd moves on to other lines.

 

I've been in sticker shock for some time with Royal. Even though I had just turned Diamond, I booked my last cruise in 2014 on Norwegian Getaway because I couldn't find a decent price for a solo on Royal.

 

Joke was on me. NCL has lower fares, but nickels and dimes you so much, the final cost was almost a wash. :(

Edited January 7, 2015 by LuvBNatC
typo

[grandgeezer]

I'm retired, so I have a lot of flexibility on when and where to go, and I find the pricing to be laughable. I check cruises every single day, and this is the first time in almost 14 years I don't have a future cruise booked. I mostly do Celebrity and Royal Caribbean because of the percs being Elite Plus/Diamond but if I really wanted to cruise, the other lines have deals. The thing that is really turning me off is them force feeding percs on the cruise, that aren't free, they build them into the cost of the cruise. Celebrity now has a 123 Inclusive promo that includes the drink package for two, prepaid gratuities, and obc of $600 for a conceiarge balcony. I was looking at a 14 day Caribbean and the price was over $3,000p.p. Almost the same itenenary, same length, and a premium balcony on the competition is about half that without many percs. I like Celebrity but not at double the price. I plan on keep looking, but at some stage I'll probably say to hell with it and go to another line that will give me only what I want at a price I want to pay.

[jtdl]

I booked a FOS cruise for Feb 2016. I compared Carnival, NCL and RCCL same dates, itinerary and ship size/activities and RCCL FOS was the cheapest. For Canadians if you book through RCCL in CND $ the exchange rate is very good, the other two lines were priced in US $ so would have actually been quite a bit more expensive with the exchange rate what it is likely to be at final payment. The rate I booked at in CND $ will stay the same until final payment regardless of our dollar's activity.

 

The overall price of this upcoming cruise is quite a bit more than our last in 2013 but as others have said, everything goes up in price. Friends who booked AIs the last two years have also noticed a substantial increase in cost as well.

 

 

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Edited January 7, 2015 by jtdl

[krisko]

My point of reference is the first week of April. I've booked a cruise first week of april for last 5 years as my kids are off. Last year was under $2000 for 3 of us, this year the same boat is well over 3k.

 

My job gets me interline rates for Carnival, MSC, and HA. I'm willing to wait for last minute deal on Royal and if that fails, just cruise on one of the interline partners. I'm a fastidious planner but I'm willing to change if being a planner is going to cost me thousands.

[L454S]

After Allure in April, we have nothing booked and have decided to do last minute stuff. The cruises we are interested in with RCI are high, and this past year, we passed on some great last minute deals from Princess and others.

 

Just as an example, the cruise we have coming up 1/25 on the Navigator was a last minute booking(30 Days) and was $100PP more(and no $100PP OBC) than the Princess boat doing the same itinerary 15 miles away. We have been on the Emerald Princess before, so we went with the Navigator this time. On future sailings, that $400 might look better in my pocket.

[Briitini]

Oasis was over $900 more than Carnival Breeze in early Feb... Ummmmm I would never, esp being in Florida where I have 2 ports within an hour, another within 3 hrs down the road from my parents house and 1 4 hours away.

[laurenpie]

I found otherwise, the only thing that has stopped me booking the Oasis before now was the price.

 

I've always looked (in hope) that the price would be good, and never has, till the buy 1 get 1 half off came up recently. It was a pretty good discount with it, and without it, unsure I would have booked.

 

Husband prefers to cruise with Carnival, part of his reason is the price. Except in this case the cruises Carnival offered were not what we were looking for (as we were not very flexible with vacation leave etc).

 

I guess I prefer to stick with Carnival, given we are closer to platinum etc with them than RC..

 

But.. with saying that, very happy to cruise with RC again (as it has been a while) and very much looking forward to May.

[Beachammo]

Most of us here feel the current prices are high as we cruise critic members check prices often. Royal has trained us over the years that any given day our cruise price could fall hundreds of dollars. Over the last 6 months or so, prices have increased to justify the BOGOHO. With my limited experience getting my friends to cruise, I see a different side. Almost all my friends (who have never cruised before) can't believe how cheap it is to cruise....and that's using current pricing.

 

We may not like it, but Royal is filling their boats with these cruisers.

[Midwestgal]

I'm starting to have second thoughts about my Allure cruise in Feb 2016 and how much I'm paying for what I'm getting.

I'm a Carnival cruiser with the exception of Majesty and all I've heard on the Royal threads is how bad Carnival is, it sure seems that Royal is really cutting back on things as well and charging a premium for it.

 

Never had a bad cruise with Carnival but we've grown board with them an we're looking foward to Allure now I'm thinking we should try Princess instead .

[dplusd]

Is everybody sticking with Royal or migrating to other lines? I just hit Diamond so I'm inclined to stay but not at roughly double the price what I'm used to paying.

 

Even with their "sales" Royal's prices are too high. We just sailed on Princess in a mini-suite for less than Royal's "sale" prices on their balcony staterooms. Any Princess has better pizza!

[SPacificbound]

The last Royal Caribbean cruises I have booked were in March 2014 for October 2015. I really haven't looked at Royal bookings since then.

 

Right now everything else we have booked is Celebrity. We'll see how it looks when Royal releases the 2016-2017 bookings.

 

We are fairly new to cruising and had already done a lot of fly/land/rail travel.

Cruising has been an easier experience so far. We'll see if we feel the same at the end of 2015.

 

I discovered quickly on our first cruise that I really enjoyed our hotel and transportation being the same. :)

[kruzerci]

That's why we have not booked a cruise since last May.

 

Clarea always seems to be a simple voice of reason ;).

 

As usual, I agree with you. All of our current bookings were made onboard Allure in May. I think the $2,000, after the balcony discount, 7 nights for two in a JS on Independence (plus $200 suite onboard booking OBC) was very reasonable, as was the Brilliance December cruise we booked.

 

However, the prices I'm "locked in" at for Allure May 2016 are ridiculous. At this point I'm not even anticipating taking the cruise. The mark up to "discount" and offer OBC scheme isn't working for me. Quite frankly, it's just insulting to those who know their typical pricing well.

 

Our cruise last month on the Explorer and our cruise this weekend on the Enchantment are the first two cruises since I can remember that we haven't booked at least one cruise onboard.

 

All inclusives appeal to us more and more compared to Royal Caribbean these days. If it just weren't for loving the feeling of being at sea...

[gkbiiii]

The prices have make "a crazy jump" this week alone. What is going on here, when better lines like Holland & Princess are now lower priced than Royal??

[Beachammo]

The prices have make "a crazy jump" this week alone. What is going on here, when better lines like Holland & Princess are now lower priced than Royal??

 

Royal's advertising is MUCH better..........

[sailset]

The Quantum seems to be in that category - some of the sailings have significant vacancies. RCI rather have empty cabins than lower the price.

 

Hard to understand why they would do this. Our Dec 1 sailing was something like 1000 under capacity. Empty rooms everywhere. That's a lot of money lost for RCI.

[setsail]

Hard to understand why they would do this. Our Dec 1 sailing was something like 1000 under capacity. Empty rooms everywhere. That's a lot of money lost for RCI.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=44599521#post44599521

[PLEIKU68]

After much indecision have decided that for us and I repeat for us we have decided that cruising is not worth the price anymore. 25 cruises and diamond plus. The last few cruises it seems that they keep taking away things that were always included in the cruise. Diamond discount coupons are a good example. First it was get a free item and now its get a free item if you buy an item. The price of premium dinning is something that really peeves me. In the earlier years, since 86, the dinning was outstanding, but now if you want the same food experience you need to fork over another thirty dollars per person for one meal. As has been said on cruise critic by many others the nickel and dime is getting out of hand. We have always tip above the amount for the great service we have always received in years past. With the tips being added on, the service is much less than in years past. I will miss those days at sea but it just is not worth it anymore. For those of you that have not experienced the better days of cruising I'm sure I'll get flamed for this post. Goodbye to what use to be the best vacation.

 

I am of the opinion that you (along with myself ) are just the type of customer that Royal wants to get rid of. We have spent years and dollars with Royal, we know al the money traps , consequently our onboard spending in minimal. Royal wants the new cruiser who comes on board with a fat wallet and leaves with a skinny one. Before you quite altogether try Princess. I have found their product to be just as good as Royal and their pricing is so much better. Also, you can combine discounts with them, stockholder, military, bring a friend, etc.:):)

[Midwestgal]

For our 2016 Allure cruise in a D-2 with taxes and gratuity were paying $1,300.per person with a $100.00 OBC for each person.

I'm use to Carnivals prices so this is higher but I was under the impression you get so much more on Royal. We did expect to pay more for Allure so we're ok with the price. When I priced it last year for 2015 it was only about $70.00 cheaper.

[JoeRum]

Last time I checked RCCL was a for profit company. They are trying to make as much money as the market will allow them to with the pricing structure. It is what it is. It will hit a point and level out or come back down if they cannot fill the cabins. To me its a matter of finding the right cruise at the right time. Its still cheaper than many of the all inclusive resorts I have looked at.

 

Happy sailing everyone!