Average cruise cost?

[keelyhealthnut]

Hey there! I have been on two cruises with Carnival and we were thinking of changing it up for our next cruise and trying Royal. We are a family of 4 and are a bit more concerned with budget this vacation since we are going to be doing a 1 week Disney vacation ($$$!) followed by a 1 week cruise. We figured since we were in Florida we would take advantage of the proximity to the many Florida ports and the Eastern caribbean itineraries.

 

What is the general price range you have paid for your RCCL cruises? We have paid between $2,000 - $3,000 for the 4 of us in Carnival balconies in the past. Is that possible with RCCL balconies or will I be expecting a much higher price tag? If so, we may just cruise Carnival this time and experience Royal in the future when we are not combining it with an already expensive vacation.

 

I know that I can go to the Royal website and look at pricing in more detail (and I will when I have more time tonight), but the thought crossed my mind so I thought that I would see what all of your experiences were. Thanks so much for the info!

[nolesrule]

When are you planning on going? Prices vary greatly based on time of year because of peak vacation times.

[waterbug123]

 

What is the general price range you have paid for your RCCL cruises? We have paid between $2,000 - $3,000 for the 4 of us in Carnival balconies in the past. Is that possible with RCCL balconies or will I be expecting a much higher price tag?

 

At this risk of sounding rude, which is not my intention, have you even bothered to go to the Royal Caribbean website and do a quick search? You should be able to get an answer to your question with a quick 5 minute search.

 

Not to mention that like most things, cruise prices are largely based on supply and demand, both of which will vary. So whether others have gotten a particular price in the past has little to no bearing on what you may or may not find for next summer.

 

:)

[yolanda1]

You won't really be able to compare other peoples' prices with what could be possible for you. Too many variables.

[rjrpar]

When we travel it's just the 2 of us, so hard for me to respond to specific prices. However, we find that Carnival is generally about 10% less for comparable cruises.

 

 

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[racerxspeedy]

Without more info it is not possible to answer your question, but in general a balcony room on RC is similar in price to Carnival. I have found good deals on both lines.

 

Right now RC prices are higher than we have seen in the past - the "sales" are just a marketing ploy.

[keelyhealthnut]

When are you planning on going? Prices vary greatly based on time of year because of peak vacation times.

 

Sometime between March and May. Would that be considered off-season?

Edited January 25, 2015 by keelyhealthnut

[keelyhealthnut]

At this risk of sounding rude, which is not my intention, have you even bothered to go to the Royal Caribbean website and do a quick search? You should be able to get an answer to your question with a quick 5 minute search.

 

Not to mention that like most things, cruise prices are largely based on supply and demand, both of which will vary. So whether others have gotten a particular price in the past has little to no bearing on what you may or may not find for next summer.

 

:)

 

Not rude at all. I did a quick search, but not knowing anything about Royal I was quickly overwhelmed with the ships, various ports out of Florida, balcony options, etc. I was just looking for past experiences until I had more time to research (I got excited at the possibility! :) ), but if it's too broad of a question, I understand.

Edited January 25, 2015 by keelyhealthnut

[keelyhealthnut]

Okay, thanks for the POV, all. I will investigate further. I jumped the gun in excitement! :cool:

[Merion_Mom]

Not rude at all. I did a quick search, but not knowing anything about Royal I was quickly overwhelmed with the ships, various ports out of Florida, balcony options, etc. I was just looking for past experiences until I had more time to research (I got excited at the possibility! :) ), but if it's too broad of a question, I understand.

 

March - depends on when Easter/Passover is, and thus when spring break is. Spring break covers a huge amount of calendar real estate, but in 2015, for example, starting with the weekend of April 11, prices plunge.

 

April - ditto

 

May - first three weeks usually less, because everyone is in school. Then they start to close for the summer...........

 

Labor Day through October are usually less.

 

Between Thanksgiving and Christmas are usually less.

 

And there is no such thing as an "average" price. YOU must decide what you want to spend, then find a vacation within your budget. Then you have to stop wondering if someone else paid less. :)

[LuCruise]

Another trick they do on pricing to watch out for.

 

When you do a search on a cruise, it will say "starting from $xxx". Then I would enter 2 adults and 2 kids and I never saw that base price of $xxx (i.e. checking the lowest priced cabin for that cruise). Didn't get it. Then I noticed that if I stuck with only 2 adults, then that cost of $xxx came up for the cheapest cabin.

 

Furthermore, the cost for guest 3 and 4 differs.

For example, I compared a trip for March 2015 with April 2016 for same ship and same number of days in Caribbean. The initial price (when shown the cost per stateroom but before you enter your number of guests) for March 2015 was cheaper than April 2016. But when I selected 2 adults, 2 children for each, the total price for April 2016 is $200 less than March 2015 (and not sure if OBC exists for mar 2015)

 

So in other words, as you add more guests the price doesn't go up equally. And this number varies, meaning it's not a certain percentage of guest 1 and 2.

 

To look at the cost, you must check the total cost for all your guests.

Edited January 26, 2015 by LuCruise

[Coralc]

Not rude at all. I did a quick search, but not knowing anything about Royal I was quickly overwhelmed with the ships, various ports out of Florida, balcony options, etc. I was just looking for past experiences until I had more time to research (I got excited at the possibility! :) ), but if it's too broad of a question, I understand.

 

Port Canaveral is the closest port to Orlando and Disney. Freedom and Enchantment cruise out of there at the present time.

 

Otherwise you are looking a Tampa as the next closest. Vision (I think) and Brilliance at the present time, but not year round.

[jchiefs13]

As everyone else stated - there are so many variables (interior vs suite, time of year, sailing/ship).

 

Regardless, if you booked Disney and didn't die of sticker shock a cruise is going to be inexpensive. As someone who mostly cruises for vacations, when I went on Freedom a few years ago we did Universal for a couple of days prior... OUCH! I about passed out. Those 2 nights and day in the park cost us more than the week long cruise.

 

Judy

[Lionesss]

You won't really be able to compare other peoples' prices with what could be possible for you. Too many variables.

 

 

 

 

 

Very well said, and I agree.

 

Some of these are:

 

Airlines

Hotels pre and post cruise

Dinners pre and post cruise

Soda or alcohol package

Cabin or suite

Specialty dining

Excursions

Souveniers

New vacation clothes

Insurance

 

Just to name a few.

 

 

Um, we save all year and its all in the bank well before final payment.

 

Safe journeys

Edited January 26, 2015 by Lionesss

[Deptacon]

IMO, on avg.....around 100 a night per person (or lower) for balcony is the right price on RCCL....except on Oasis and freedom class which will be higher

 

I tend to book around the cheaper times of year though....spring between April/May....and late summer fall when everyone goes back to school (late AUG/SEP/OCT)

 

now for some people thats fine, they only cruise in the summer due to schools/work/etc..... just how I price things out.

[fdpevey]

We have been fortunate to sail all the mass cruiser cruise lines and find RCI to be one of the highest prices - they don't typically have sales that give much savings and seldom offer the other discounts (free gratuities, free drinks packages, etc.) that we have been able to get from other lines.

 

That said, we have enjoyed our cruises with RCI - and we'll be on the Oasis in March - but it's not really a line if you're looking for a "good deal".

[Desert Cruizers]

Cruise prices will depend on the category room, month you cruise, so hard to say an average. A family of 4, not knowing if you have children and if you will be all 4 to a cabin or have two cabins. As mentioned go to the Royal Web Site and do a mock booking, or call and speak with someone directly.

[waterbug123]

We figured since we were in Florida we would take advantage of the proximity to the many Florida ports and the Eastern caribbean itineraries.

 

 

Not rude at all. I did a quick search, but not knowing anything about Royal I was quickly overwhelmed with the ships, various ports out of Florida, balcony options, etc.

 

Go to the Royal website and click search for a cruise.

Then click advanced search.

I don't recall if you said, but assume you're talking about a summer vacation while kids are out of school? So click "Caribbean" for where you'd like to go, and then highlight the months you're willing to search. I did this and highlighter June/July/Aug.

At this point, when you go to the departure port tab, you'll see only a few highlighted; that's where Royal will have ships this summer. You'll note that Miami and Tampa aren't an option, but Port Canaveral and Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) are.

Click Port Canaveral and then look below and you'll see only the Freedom ighlighted. Go back and change it to Port Everglades and you'll see Oasis and Independence. (if you change your destination to a Bahamas cruise, you'll also see Enchantement show up out of Port C, and Majesty out of Miami)

At that point, I'd stop searching cruises, and go back and look at the ships in question. Freedom and Independence are sister ships, so similar with a few small differences. They are huge, but Oasis is even bigger and often commands a premium price because it has ever bell and whistle Royal has ever dreamed up, save for some on its newest ship, Quantum. Since you are doing this in conjunction with a Disney cruise, you might look at Freedom for its proximity to Orlando. See if the ship is appealing, and then narrow your dates and look at the prices. There is more cruise competition in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area though, so if you like the look of Freedom, also look at prices for Independence. Similar ship, but you might find lower prices.

[keelyhealthnut]

Thank you all for the wealth of information!

[A2Mich]

Well we got lucky because we booked our Freedom of the Seas cruise a year ago, and thanks to a wow sale and a kids sail free promo, we ended up getting a very good bottom line price. While I can't compare exactly to Carnival, we're at roughly the same price. We booked a Family Promenade for the 5 of us, but Carnival doesn't have an equivalent cabin on the Sunshine. Our price for a larger 323 sq ft promenade view is a little bit less than Carnival's current pricing for a standard 185 sq ft oceanview. While we may not have an ocean view, we will at least have somewhat of a view, even if it is the inside of the ship. However, on Carnival, we would have had to use a standard quad cabin and STILL have a crib/pack and play taking up valuable floor space in a relatively small cabin. So, we opted to forgo the view for the extra space, walk in closet, and bath tub. You can find some good deals, but you have to watch carefully and keep checking both Carny and RCI for price drops.

[jtdl]

I booked Freedom of the Seas for Feb 2016 after comparing Carnival and NCL comparable ship sizes/features and itineraries. Freedom of the Seas was quite a bit cheaper for a balcony - and I lucked out and got a corner aft with huge balcony!

 

 

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