Sharing drink package

[American Bear]

Your analogy is idiotic at best. When was the last time you ordered a beer at a bar or restaurant and told them you could have gotten it at Publix for a dollar so they were robbing you? What did they say after picking themselves off the floor in hysterics?

 

Chill out.

The person has a point.

Maybe they should have said local bar instead of Publix, but its still no reason to call names.

There are plenty of bars in every community of Florida where you can get a beer for $2-$3., with mixed drinks costing a couple dollars more.

The bigger point is RCL drink prices are a ripoff!

And anyone who disagrees, compare RCL's with other cruise lines.

[MrsPete]

It's not really fair to compare the cost of a beer from a store-bought 12-pack to a beer served at the bar onboard.

 

For that beer to be available to you, some behind-the-scenes work had to take place:

 

- The ship's buyers had to contract to buy cases of beer.

- The beer had to be transported to the ship, then stored in a cool environment.

- The bartenders had to move the beer from the storeroom to the bars.

- The bartenders had to keep the bar clean, provide a glass and napkin if you wish it.

- The custodial staff had to dispose of your trash after you've finished your drink.

 

All this is more complicated on a ship than it is on land, and it does cost more.

 

Are they making a good profit? Of course! But it's not fair to compare it to the grocery-store's prices.

[looking4info]

It's not really fair to compare the cost of a beer from a store-bought 12-pack to a beer served at the bar onboard.

 

For that beer to be available to you, some behind-the-scenes work had to take place:

 

- The stores buyers had to contract to buy cases of beer.

- The beer had to be transported to the store, then stored in a cool environment.

- The grocery stockers had to move the beer from the storeroom to the shelves/cooler.

- The custodians had to keep the store clean. and

The cashier staff had to ring up your order.

The service clerk had to retrieve the shopping cart you left in the parking lot.

 

All this is as complicated on a ship as it is on land, and it does cost more.

 

Are they making a good profit? Of course! But it's not fair to compare it to the grocery-store's prices????

 

Just changed a few words around. Nothing comes without a cost. My guess...the salaries of the store workers just may exceed those of the ships crew. May very well be a fair comparison.

Edited April 10, 2015 by looking4info

[gerif]

Chill out.

The person has a point.

Maybe they should have said local bar instead of Publix, but its still no reason to call names.

There are plenty of bars in every community of Florida where you can get a beer for $2-$3., with mixed drinks costing a couple dollars more.

The bigger point is RCL drink prices are a ripoff!

And anyone who disagrees, compare RCL's with other cruise lines.

 

Wasn't calling the poster names, just the analogy. DH can go over to the American Legion hall or the VFW and get a beer for $2-3, but a nicer bar or restaurant is going to charge a lot more. We get it and I don't understand why anyone feels the cruiseline should be giving it away. I can get a whole case of bottled water for what the movie theater charges for one, but I'm a captive audience and understand their need to make a profit.

[A2Mich]

Wasn't calling the poster names, just the analogy. DH can go over to the American Legion hall or the VFW and get a beer for $2-3, but a nicer bar or restaurant is going to charge a lot more. We get it and I don't understand why anyone feels the cruiseline should be giving it away. I can get a whole case of bottled water for what the movie theater charges for one, but I'm a captive audience and understand their need to make a profit.

 

 

I too understand their need to make a profit just as every business does. There is more than one way to make a profit. You can make a profit on high margins or on high volumes. The point trying to be made is that consumers wouldn't feel so violated and taken advantage of by the profits made on volume sales. I don't know exactly what a can of beer costs the cruise lines. I do know what a can of soda costs me at a warehouse club--about .28 per can plus tax. Now I can almost guarantee that the cruise lines are purchasing their soda in huge volumes, and may very well be paying less than that per can. So let's assume that they are paying .30 per can. I'm not seeing the logic in a 1000% markup (as cans of soda run around $3 each onboard). Even if they sold that same can at $1.50 per can, which I don't think is unreasonable, that's still a huge markup. That is about the point where I personally feel the product has no further value and is certainly not worth $3 per can. Let's assume I have a budget allowance of $50 for onboard drinks. With that $50, that's basically 16 cans of soda. At $1.50 per can, I could buy 33 cans. Since my perception is that $1.50 per can is still not unreasonable, I may very well buy those 33 cans, and the cruise line had still made $40 off of me (33 cans x .30 each=$9.90). At $3 per can, I may only but maybe 10 cans max. These 10 cans cost them $3, and I spent $30, instead of $50, because I don't feel the product is worth that much. They now have only made a $27 profit instead of $40. Could they have made $40? Sure--if the retail price was more reasonable interpretation eyes. One thing that cruise lines look at is per passenger spending. What they seem to forget is that their passengers may very well spend more of they feel that the value is still there. How many times have you walked down the aisle at the grocery store and not picked one item because you felt the price was too high? Do you not shop around for any number of purchases or do you simply pay whatever the price happens to be so that the business can make a profit? If buying a new car, would you do your best to get the best price, or would you just pay the highest price quoted so that the salesman can get their bonus? There is a difference between making a fair profit and gouging. In any transaction, both buyer and seller need to feel good about the deal. In my opinion, the only person happy with these deals is the cruise line. There are varying opinions on this subject--my opinions are different than yours, and neither is necessarily right. You have your views and others have another view. It doesn't make either of us right or wrong.

[StolidCruiser]

Chill out.

The person has a point.

Maybe they should have said local bar instead of Publix, but its still no reason to call names.

There are plenty of bars in every community of Florida where you can get a beer for $2-$3., with mixed drinks costing a couple dollars more.

The bigger point is RCL drink prices are a ripoff!

And anyone who disagrees, compare RCL's with other cruise lines.

 

Capitalism is not a ripoff and continuing to characterize it as such demonstrates a true lack of comprehension.

 

Comparison made... and guess what? Just about the same. Some higher, some lower but all in the same ballpark.

[A2Mich]

Capitalism is not a ripoff and continuing to characterize it as such demonstrates a true lack of comprehension.

 

 

 

Comparison made... and guess what? Just about the same. Some higher, some lower but all in the same ballpark.

 

 

True enough, but not questioning pricing is also foolish on the part of the consumer. It used to be that businesses were out to make a fair profit and please the consumer at the same time. Unfortunately, it appears that the time has come to where it's all about making the most money possible and screw the customer. Maybe businesses need to realize that while they're out to make as much as possible, consumers also have very strong opinions of how they feel they have been treated. A first time customer may very well NOT become a repeat customer if they feel as if they were taken. Savvy consumers vote with their dollars and smart business people will realize that. Poor reviews travel much faster than great ones. I work in a highly competitive service business--I hear the complaints from customers about how overpriced such and such company is and how much that company is, and what poor service another company provides. Greed can be a huge downfall for companies.

[Trainman-2]

How do RCI's beer prices compare to the concessions in an NFL Stadium?

 

Are the waiting lines compared to NFL concessions longer or shorter on RCI?

 

 

[Big_G]

True enough, but not questioning pricing is also foolish on the part of the consumer. It used to be that businesses were out to make a fair profit and please the consumer at the same time. Unfortunately, it appears that the time has come to where it's all about making the most money possible and screw the customer. Maybe businesses need to realize that while they're out to make as much as possible, consumers also have very strong opinions of how they feel they have been treated. A first time customer may very well NOT become a repeat customer if they feel as if they were taken. Savvy consumers vote with their dollars and smart business people will realize that. Poor reviews travel much faster than great ones. I work in a highly competitive service business--I hear the complaints from customers about how overpriced such and such company is and how much that company is, and what poor service another company provides. Greed can be a huge downfall for companies.

 

 

One of the cornerstones of capitalism is supply and demand. If people aren't willing to pay the price for the product, demand will come down and so will the price. In order for demand to come down, people have to actually stop buying. I guess at this price point, I'm not ready to sacrifice any part of my cruise vacation and I'm really not sure where that point would be.

 

 

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[A2Mich]

How do RCI's beer prices compare to the concessions in an NFL Stadium?

 

 

 

Are the waiting lines compared to NFL concessions longer or shorter on RCI?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How many people are stuck in an NFL stadium for 7 days?

[phoenix1181]

No one is forcing you to take a Royal Caribbean cruise or purchase anything when you're onboard! If you're not happy, spend your money somewhere else. Complaining here isn't going to change anything.............

[A2Mich]

No one is forcing you to take a Royal Caribbean cruise or purchase anything when you're onboard! If you're not happy, spend your money somewhere else. Complaining here isn't going to change anything.............

 

 

Omg I'm so sick of hearing that lame excuse. All of the mainstream cruise lines do the same thing. Just because they all do it, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. It just means that at least some people are paying their inflated charges. Being a cheerleader for the cruise lines isn't going to change other people's opinions simply because we don't all agree on the matter.

[phoenix1181]

Omg I'm so sick of hearing that lame excuse. All of the mainstream cruise lines do the same thing. Just because they all do it, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. It just means that at least some people are paying their inflated charges. Being a cheerleader for the cruise lines isn't going to change other people's opinions simply because we don't all agree on the matter.

 

OMG! I'm so sick of hearing that lame complaint. Just because you think they're charging too much doesn't mean everyone feels the same way. You are choosing to be a captive audience. Make a different choice & stop B****ING!

[Big_G]

Omg I'm so sick of hearing that lame excuse. All of the mainstream cruise lines do the same thing. Just because they all do it, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. It just means that at least some people are paying their inflated charges. Being a cheerleader for the cruise lines isn't going to change other people's opinions simply because we don't all agree on the matter.

 

But it's really not an excuse at all A2Mich. It's just a truth. We're not talking necessities here. We're talking a cruise. If they're all 'doing' it, then that's the market.

[marci22]

I don't see why some people get so worked up about someone's particular complaint. Go read something else if it raises your blood pressure.

 

Usually, people only like to hear a complaint if it is something that they also want to complain about.

 

Just because everyone is doing something, does not make it right or tolerable, or unchangeable. I think Royal does read these boards to see how various promos are going; they would be stupid not to. Cruise criitc is a free, ongoing survey of their product.

 

I think they just went a bit crazy with the drink prices. Like some 22 year old marketing major from Cornell said 'hey let's just do this'. Whatever. I wouldn't purchase a $10 rum and coke anywhere so in that sense, it doesn't affect me. But I can see people getting annoyed.

[marci22]

>25,000 views, Royal should be looking too.

[A2Mich]

One of the cornerstones of capitalism is supply and demand. If people aren't willing to pay the price for the product, demand will come down and so will the price. In order for demand to come down, people have to actually stop buying. I guess at this price point, I'm not ready to sacrifice any part of my cruise vacation and I'm really not sure where that point would be.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

Exactly. The problem with voting with your dollars, is that everyone had their own perception of value. I think anything over $150 for a hotel room is asking too much, in most cases. Your idea may very well be $350. Two very different ideas of "value." I may stop using a particular chain of hotel because of this, but you're still happy with them because you feel the value is still there. These companies are simply going to push and push until they've determined they've reached the point that a large number of consumers are pushing back by not buying. The real issue is that we all have different opinions of what is reasonable and fair.

[Paulxyz2004]

Omg I'm so sick of hearing that lame excuse. All of the mainstream cruise lines do the same thing. Just because they all do it, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. It just means that at least some people are paying their inflated charges. Being a cheerleader for the cruise lines isn't going to change other people's opinions simply because we don't all agree on the matter.

 

Might be an inflated Price for you, but not for others.

 

If the market bears those Prices it´s absolutely the right Thing to do.

[A2Mich]

Might be an inflated Price for you, but not for others.

 

If the market bears those Prices it´s absolutely the right Thing to do.

 

 

Exactly. There are plenty of people here who feel their prices are getting too high. And there are plenty of others who don't think they've reached that point yet. It's a matter of perception. One other thing is that simply because the market bears those prices, keep in mind that once on board their ships, you are a captive audience and have no alternative to paying their prices or to not buy at all. There is no alternate vendor to provide competition to keep their prices in check.

[Paulxyz2004]

Exactly. There are plenty of people here who feel their prices are getting too high. And there are plenty of others who don't think they've reached that point yet. It's a matter of perception. One other thing is that simply because the market bears those prices, keep in mind that once on board their ships, you are a captive audience and have no alternative to paying their prices or to not buy at all. There is no alternate vendor to provide competition to keep their prices in check.

 

What´s to Keep in mind there?

Captive audience or not, the only question is if the market bears the Price and if it does I say more power to the cruiselines in charging those Prices. It is and should be their Goal to max out their income.

This is not like they Charge you an arm and leg for essentials. You can have a fabulous vacation without buying anything extra onboard.

[A2Mich]

What´s to Keep in mind there?

Captive audience or not, the only question is if the market bears the Price and if it does I say more power to the cruiselines in charging those Prices. It is and should be their Goal to max out their income.

This is not like they Charge you an arm and leg for essentials. You can have a fabulous vacation without buying anything extra onboard.

 

 

Well the market has to bear the price on board. There are NO other options if you want whatever the product happens to be.

[phoenix1181]

Well the market has to bear the price on board. There are NO other options if you want whatever the product happens to be.

 

 

I think that's the key word............ The choice is yours.

[NYGirl1002]

For the life of me I can't understand why someone would post that they are doing this on a message board for the world to see. The same with smuggling booze and stuff like that. They are asking for trouble.

[A2Mich]

I think that's the key word............ The choice is yours.

 

 

How stupid do people think I am? I realize that 100000%. They can charge what they want because they control the market. I think their prices are too high. Others don't. BFD. We don't all have I agree on this. I don't agree with some of their business practices. Plain and simple end of story. I'm not dogging anyone here who is more than willing to pay whatever the big gorilla dands. That's your choice to do so and my choice to disagree with them. As I've said before--I don't have a problem giving them my money IF I felt that the value is there. Price your products more reasonably, and I would likely be more and they would still end up making their money off of me. Charge me what I feel is too much, and I will think twice before spending my money.

[Paulxyz2004]

How stupid do people think I am?

 

Sorry I can´t answer this on here.:p