New Itineraries OVERPRICED????

[ATC cruiser]

Check out the prices for Oasis over New Years $2500 p/p for an inside room, $20,000 for a JS for 2. I know holiday cruises are a premium, but that is a little ridiculous.

[krisko]

Being retired, I wouldn't even look at any cruise until 2 weeks out. Any line, Royal isn't better than anybody else now.

[CVU]

Two weeks out to book a cruise means higher air fare for us.......great if we lived in Florida. Done Alaska and not into it, unless it was super cheap.

 

Starting to think a Road trip with some golf -is a good alternative to these high cruise prices.:D

[karena1]

Hubby is 71 and I am 58 and we LOVED Ruby!! great entertainment, good music, just overall had a wonderful time

 

Royal Points - I have given up and have now gone to a new card. The Royal card is so restrictive now it is nuts. About the only thing you can use it for anymore is OBC. So I am cashing in my points for cruises we have booked and I don't use the card at all anymore. It was fantastic when it started, I saved a ton a money, but now it is basically worthless.

[JimAOk1945]

Yes, the prices are much too high. I might have to rethink our future cruising plans. :(

[Funbobby68]

Sure hope that RCL is closely monitoring this thread . Maybe reading about all the loyal cruisers jumping ship to other lines , pun intended , they might rethink their fares and new drink prices , I'm assuming they figure if you can afford to cruise on our ships , then 10.00 plus for a drink shouldn't be a big deal either

[karena1]

Sure hope that RCL is closely monitoring this thread . Maybe reading about all the loyal cruisers jumping ship to other lines , pun intended , they might rethink their fares and new drink prices , I'm assuming they figure if you can afford to cruise on our ships , then 10.00 plus for a drink shouldn't be a big deal either

 

Doubt it. Royal really does not care about those of us that have been really loyal to them in the past. What they want are new cruisers that have no idea what a new cruise should cost. those of us that have spent literally thousands on their ships over the years - they really don't care anymore - thus why many of us are looking at other options-something I never would have done even a year ago

[jeffw47]

Doubt it. Royal really does not care about those of us that have been really loyal to them in the past. What they want are new cruisers that have no idea what a new cruise should cost. those of us that have spent literally thousands on their ships over the years - they really don't care anymore - thus why many of us are looking at other options-something I never would have done even a year ago

 

Excellent post! And I totally agree.

[kccrzr]

Prices are definitely outrageous - I booked yesterday on the 10/8/16 AOS - cat D1 solo - price - roughly 1900 with C and A discount - today - 3400. Are they kidding ? It's an 8 night cruise out of San Juan. Other categories doubled in price.

 

I booked this same cruise earlier this week and am so glad I jumped on it then. I got a great price on a JS - it is now 2x more than what we are paying. :eek:

[Middletown Stan]

Have you looked at other cruise linesman ? We tried Princess last year and loved it ! Yes Royal is a slight step above but if it breaks the bank look around. Also tried Celebrity 2 years ago but found it too stuffy and conservative

[CruisinCJ]

just stating my agreement with other cruisers THAT prices have become ridiculous on Royal. Booked the Carnival Breeze this morning for May 2016 (which is something I said I wouldn't do !)

 

Carol

[sully108]

We have a cruise booked in Sept but after that - leaving Royal. The prices are just outlandish. We are going to try NCL again, and I enjoyed the Princess cruise we took in Europe so we will try them again also. The price for the cruise itself, coupled with the mediocre food (at best), and now the drink prices being raised 40% >> no more RCI. You have lost our business RCI. And note that we usually cruise with 8 couples and sometimes their kids. We have gone with groups of 25-30 a couple of times. RCI may not miss us, but be assured we will NOT miss them either !

[Beachin2]

If RCL is looking for the missing revenue in their results - here it is - right in this thread.

 

Wall street is not amused.

[awestover89]

For all the cruises we've looked at so far, prices have been pretty comparable across all the lines. Then again, we sail interior cabins and don't really buy anything on board, so specialty restaurants and drink prices don't go into our calculations. Looking at shorter cruises this August, Carnival is about $20 more (total, not pp) for a 4 day cruise with one fewer port, NCL about $20 cheaper for a 4 day cruise, but we liked the ports that RCL went to better and we liked the features on the ship better.

 

We always price multiple lines though, and if we start seeing the same trend we won't hesitate to try another line, but so far for us there really hasn't been a noticeable difference in cost.

[rockdoctor]

We too have become spoiled by cruise prices since 2009. They are just coming back to 2008 levels. Yes, it's hard.

[KKMurphy2]

I imagined with the gas prices at very low levels, we would see some of this reflected in our cruise pricing. Guess what? I was way wrong!

[LMaxwell]

I imagined with the gas prices at very low levels, we would see some of this reflected in our cruise pricing. Guess what? I was way wrong!

Lower fuel prices drive consumer demand up. More discretionary spending for avg person.

[awestover89]

I imagined with the gas prices at very low levels, we would see some of this reflected in our cruise pricing. Guess what? I was way wrong!

 

It is being reflected, fuel prices for cruise lines have been rising this year. Even though base oil price is down, starting in 2015 many areas that ships sail have required the use of more expensive low sulfur fuel.

 

Crude oil by itself is up 36% since January according to Brent crude, the global benchmark for crude oil prices. (Reported in Royal's outlook to the SEC today) and the low sulfur version of fuel now required costs more to refine.

Edited April 20, 2015 by awestover89

[sweetlove13]

I would definitely agree. Everything I was looking at for next year was WAY more than I paid last year or this year. I'm still checking on the price of my cruise in 2 weeks hoping for a chance to upgrade but instead the prices are going up, up, up. My current balcony category is up $800 over what I paid so no chance I'm upgrading to a suite. For next year I ended up defecting to NCL because I couldn't pass up the price & itinerary & ended up getting 17 days for about $800 less than 10 days would have cost on RCI, but truthfully I would have rather stuck with RCI!! [emoji20]

[ColoradoGurl]

It's not overpriced unless nobody is willing to pay for it. As a business (and industry) cruises have done a great job with their PR and increasing the demand for that type of vacation. Now that so many people are willing and interested, they can charge higher prices and still fill their ships. It does suck for those who have enjoyed cruising as a cheaper vacation option for a long time to suddenly be in competition with all the new cruisers, but that's capitalism for you. On the bright side, cruises are still the only vacation I'm aware of that allows you to put down a deposit and lock in a price, and make payments over time in order to afford the vacation and I think that's great! You don't have to save up for 2 years to take a vacation that will be higher priced when you finally save up, because you locked in the price before you started saving. If it's too expensive and you don't think the value is worth it, I guess you'll have to find a new vacation option. But if it's just that the price has increased, well...that's business 101.

[jules815]

NCL is giving great deals and promotions so its a great time to try another line. I jumped on that train in a hurry so at least I can see what NCL is all about.

Also-lots of great land based vacations out there too. Lots of AI's are also giving great deals.

 

I was just on the NCL page. If you book a Haven suite, all of their current promos are included, you don't have to select one from the list. The promos are:

 

free beverage packages,

 

dining packages (unlimited dining in specialty restaurants),

 

pre-paid gratuities (first 2 in stateroom); and

 

$75 excursion credit for each port visited (excluding embarkation and debarkation ports).

 

Those are some nice perks. The only thing that worries me a little about the Haven area is the size of that courtyard pool and whether or not it might be full of kids. At least on FOS I know we'll have the Solarium. And, we've already purchased our airfare into Orlando.

 

It does make me consider looking at other lines for 2016 though, or maybe 2016 will be the year we do a land based vacation. We've never tried an AI before.

[squadron]

I have a few RCCL cruises, with 3 also currently booked. I am a few hours from New Orleans and may hop on the NCL ship from there last minute this summer to try it out.

 

I feel the same way. The prices have inched up.....but the excursions, Beverage prices, and the excessive upselling onboard....are ticking me off a bit too.

 

Never noticed "upselling" on my 12 day Rhapsody last Sept. Never had requests to buy anything . Maybe it is the ship or length of cruise?

[awestover89]

Never noticed "upselling" on my 12 day Rhapsody last Sept. Never had requests to buy anything . Maybe it is the ship or length of cruise?

 

The only upselling I noticed (7 day Jewel) was for the picture book, but even then we just took the coupon we were given and that was that, no real pressure. We were actually almost talked out of making a specialty purchase one night at dinner, my husband wanted the lobster and our waiter encouraged to wait a day since it would be free the next evening.

Edited April 20, 2015 by awestover89

[squadron]

We too have become spoiled by cruise prices since 2009. They are just coming back to 2008 levels. Yes, it's hard.

 

I think we have to factor in the fact that everything we buy is higher in price and we can't expect cruise prices not to change either. Are your wages up too is a question to ask yourself. I question the "freebes" offered by other lines - can't believe you aren't paying for them indirectly. You can still cruise and not spend $65 per day for the drink package.

[KentuckyTam]

I agree with RCI's pricing being a bit high lately. Due to that, we ended up taking our 1st NCL cruise on the Getaway last month. While it was a very nice ship, unless we find an amazing deal, we wouldn't cruise NCL again. It felt as though everything was an extra cost and the service overall was terrible. And with everyone getting these free promos, there is definitely a down side:

 

-it was a chore to get a drink because the bars are PACKED. Expect long wait times for each and every drink.

-not much flexibility in dining at specialty restaurants because everything is already booked up when you board.

 

We still had a great time, but when we got home, I booked the Oasis for next year.......

Edited April 20, 2015 by KentuckyTam