Disapointted

[iancal]

Prices seem to be high but they come down. We are going to the Med area at the end of August and will return in early October (retired). Prices are high but in late July early August this should change. We will book open jaw air within the next week or so to allow for maximum flexibility.

 

We are planning a land based trip (with lots ferries). IF the right cruise comes along at the right price we will book it and altar our plans accordingly-on the fly if we have to.

Edited May 28, 2015 by iancal

[cruz chic]

They charge what the market bears, and then drop prices if needed. If you aren't comfortable with it, don't pay and wait until a few weeks until sailing. If more agree with you prices will have dropped significantly. If not, HAL was correct and you save your money.

 

This is the same for airfare. We just came back from two weeks in London and flew business on points rather than money. A 7 hour flight isn't worth the $7,500 British Airways charged (to me) but clearly they can do charge that as the A380 was filled to the brim.

 

The market will not bear it. Every year they start the pricing at well over 4k. In the end it ends up being about $2200. Yup, every year. Why not start at something more reasonable like $3k. It's very likely more people will book earlier. I need airfare so booking at the last minite won't work. If I could drive it wouldn't be a problem. I have the eurodam booked but I'm totally prepared to cancel if the price is not where I want it by August. Then hal can sell my spot for $2200. I do not need to go.

 

How do you know people paid that for their air. They could all be flying on points just like you were. My guess is very few people would be paying $7500, if any.

[sppunk]

The market will not bear it. Every year they start the pricing at well over 4k. In the end it ends up being about $2200. Yup, every year. Why not start at something more reasonable like $3k. It's very likely more people will book earlier. I need airfare so booking at the last minite won't work. If I could drive it wouldn't be a problem. I have the eurodam booked but I'm totally prepared to cancel if the price is not where I want it by August. Then hal can sell my spot for $2200. I do not need to go.

 

How do you know people paid that for their air. They could all be flying on points just like you were. My guess is very few people would be paying $7500, if any.

 

They do sale cabins at that price. They don't need to sell out at it, but moving some cabins at a higher profit is better than moving all at less. They sail virtually sold out every cruise, so their math does work.

 

We too can't book last minute but even the week after final payment you are still three months out. Prices then are sometimes lower. Sometimes higher, too.

[sammiedawg]

Hi Arno,

 

I met you briefly on the Silhouette transatlantic in 2012.

 

HAL's itineraries cannot be beat. I am probably the wrong one to ask right now because we just got off Maasdam that was in Code Red for a full 7 night cruise. But, interestingly we (my DH is a professional Chef) thought the food in the MDR was pretty good and service was very efficient.

 

We had poor service and thought the selections were poor in the lido cafe (compared to Celebrity), and my DH summed it up the best when he said the issue with the ship was that "It was boring". He mentioned the shows on Celebrity, music in the Atrium and theatrical event in atrium where they have a lot of participation on the Solstice class ships.

 

On Maasdam there was an area where the band set up but no music ever around the Lido pool either during lunch time or at sail away.

 

The ports and our cabin were fine.

 

Tell everyone how much time you have on Celebrity. I know you were the highest Captains Club member on that Silhouette cruise, and are a very experienced cruiser. I did not know that you had cruised on HAL in the past.

 

I certainly agree about the Lido going downhill. The Lido used to be my favorite mass market cruise line buffet but it has been drastically cut in quality and selection. I like rotisserie chicken but this has become the daily lunch time staple and is often the only available carving station selection. I can go into any grocery store and buy a whole rotisserie chicken for five bucks.

There was no tableside service other than a busboy on our Prinsendam cruise a year ago. The service lines were understaffed as well.

on the flip side Princess has greatly improved the Horizon court food and layout and they have beverage teams in all sections of the horizon court. Someone takes your beverage order within a minute or two and they gladly get you soft drinks on the soda card, even refills.

 

I also agree HAL a ships can be pretty boring, dull and uninspired. Princess at least has a pulse.

 

I've been saying HAL a is a value line, do not overpay to sail on it.

Edited May 28, 2015 by sammiedawg

[cruz chic]

They do sale cabins at that price. They don't need to sell out at it, but moving some cabins at a higher profit is better than moving all at less. They sail virtually sold out every cruise, so their math does work.

 

We too can't book last minute but even the week after final payment you are still three months out. Prices then are sometimes lower. Sometimes higher, too.

 

The first week on my November cruise in 2014 was not full. My cruise on the Veendam from May 9-23 was not full. I took a cruise on the Noordam in March that was not full. I hear all the time cruise go full. That has not been my experience. I think if you look on hals website you will find the same thing for cruises that will be departing very soon. I'm talking about bread and butter runs like alaska and the caribbean, not exotic cruises. Do you have information that is contrary to this?

[sppunk]

The first week on my November cruise in 2014 was not full. My cruise on the Veendam from May 9-23 was not full. I took a cruise on the Noordam in March that was not full. I hear all the time cruise go full. That has not been my experience. I think if you look on hals website you will find the same thing for cruises that will be departing very soon. I'm talking about bread and butter runs like alaska and the caribbean, not exotic cruises. Do you have information that is contrary to this?

 

I've been told several times by different Hotel Managers and a fleet planner I know that the on average HAL sails 96-98 percent full.

[cruz chic]

I've been told several times by different Hotel Managers and a fleet planner I know that the on average HAL sails 96-98 percent full.

 

Take a look at sailings in the next month. There is a lot of availability in every catagory. I think they are dreaming. While I can believe that for exotic cruises I'm having a hard time believing that's true for all cruises. If it is true my guess is that they are filling a lot of the last minute capacity with bargain hunters that will likely be very tight with onboard spending.

[C 2 C]

Hi Arno,

Tell everyone how much time you have on Celebrity. I know you were the highest Captains Club member on that Silhouette cruise, and are a very experienced cruiser. I did not know that you had cruised on HAL in the past.

 

We started cruising on HAL back in 89 but our last was on Westerdam in 2008, the week before our Solstice inaugural cruises. At that time we preferred the food on Westerdam to what Solstice offered. The food on Celebrity has improved since then and the Oceanview Cafe (Lido) offerings on Solstice class ships is great.

We have now sailed on Celebrity 166 times. Zenith benefits make it very difficult to try another cruise line unless there is a very big draw. We would love to try a world cruise on HAL but lack of live music, potential mechanical issues on an old ship and a "sticky topic" makes us very hesitant to come back to HAL.

[qsuzi]

I certainly agree about the Lido going downhill. The Lido used to be my favorite mass market cruise line buffet but it has been drastically cut in quality and selection. I like rotisserie chicken but this has become the daily lunch time staple and is often the only available carving station selection. I can go into any grocery store and buy a whole rotisserie chicken for five bucks.

There was no tableside service other than a busboy on our Prinsendam cruise a year ago. The service lines were understaffed as well.

on the flip side Princess has greatly improved the Horizon court food and layout and they have beverage teams in all sections of the horizon court. Someone takes your beverage order within a minute or two and they gladly get you soft drinks on the soda card, even refills.

 

I also agree HAL a ships can be pretty boring, dull and uninspired. Princess at least has a pulse.

 

I've been saying HAL a is a value line, do not overpay to sail on it.

If Princess can provide better service in casual dining, I have trouble understanding why HAL cannot, especially since it is generally $500-$1500 per person more for balcony/mini-suite equivalent cabins on the itineraries (Alaska and Mexican Riveria) that we have been sailing. I do like HAL's food better overall but I agree Princess has improved their product since 4 years ago when we previously sailed them. I recognize that some to much of this reason is larger passenger capacities on Princess, but that does not fully account for less per ratio staffing, less entertainment choices, etc.

Edited May 28, 2015 by qsuzi

[C 2 C]

Over on the Celebrity board a passenger returning from Summit posted the dailies to show the different entertainment options on a cruise to Bermuda:

 

http://the-hotline.net/Summit-Bermuda/Day-007.pdf

 

I can't comment on the quality of the performers but there is a DJ, a Party band for the pool area, a jazz quartet for the main lounge (Rendezvous Lounge), a piano player, a guitarist and a duo.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Arno.

[cruz chic]

If Princess can provide better service in casual dining, I have trouble understanding why HAL cannot, especially since it is generally $500-$1500 per person more for balcony/mini-suite equivalent cabins on the itineraries (Alaska and Mexican Riveria) that we have been sailing. I do like HAL's food better overall but I agree Princess has improved their product since 4 years ago when we previously sailed them. I recognize that some to much of this reason is larger passenger capacities on Princess, but that does not fully account for less per ratio staffing, less entertainment choices, etc.

 

I agree for the most part. I don't think it's ever taken for than a couple minutes to get water, tea, lemonade etc on princess. You could die waiting for that on hal. They do have a ton of people circulating for drinks for purchase to the point of it being annoying. The service in the MDR on princess is much better and so is the food compared to what hal is dishing out lately. I find the horizon court has much fewer choices than hal. Entertainment is much better on princess.

[iancal]

Celebrity and Princess are currently at the very top of what we call our balcony gty (or better) value. It is based on our preferences and our current perceptions of these cruise line offerings.

 

Have to agree on Princess Horizon court. We recently did a Sun Princess cruise. The food prep and offerings, and the service were absolutely top notch on this ship. Celebrity entertainment can be very variable but we very much prefer their MDR food, service, and their alternative restaurants. Plus Solstice class ships are our favourite.

 

HAL is on the list...at least some of their ships are on our list but like RCI, HAL is slipping on our scale. Too many cuts and the ship maintenance is slipping. We want to try Eurodam but the price has to be right. We are not willing to pay a premium for HAL over other cruise lines, nor do we see a reason to.

Edited May 28, 2015 by iancal

[chrisbu315]

Have the Princess beds improved? I was on the Ruby in Nov 2013 and thought I was sleeping on a slab of granite for 13 nights.

[iancal]

Yes, absolutely. Previous to this cruise we thought that Princess had the worst beds and the worst coffee on the waves.

 

Our beds were perfect-huge improvement here. Coffee was better(but still not great) however we opted for the coffee card as we like our caps with a double shot.

 

But, it is like any other line. Just because we had great beds on the Sun does not mean we will have the same on another Princess ship.

Edited May 28, 2015 by iancal

[cruz chic]

I think princess may be replacing beds. My bed on the sapphire in feb 2014 was more comfortable than hal. Was on the emerald in feb 2015 and the bed was fine but not as nice as the sapphire.

[breeze123]

What's interesting is every post in this thread, you can replace HAL with every other cruise line, and it still would be accurate.

 

Every line has slipped. Every hotel, too, save for a few extremely high end chains (way above Four Seasons level). Every airline (except Ethiad I guess) too.

 

Agree! Except I've flown on Ethiad and it isn't that great either! But maybe because I wasn't in the new private cabins. ;)

[breeze123]

How do you know people paid that for their air. They could all be flying on points just like you were. My guess is very few people would be paying $7500, if any.

 

Point seats are very limited on all flights so yes, lots of people ARE paying that price. Just like people are paying $4000 to sail.

[qsuzi]

Yes, absolutely. Previous to this cruise we thought that Princess had the worst beds and the worst coffee on the waves.

 

Our beds were perfect-huge improvement here. Coffee was better(but still not great) however we opted for the coffee card as we like our caps with a double shot.

 

But, it is like any other line. Just because we had great beds on the Sun does not mean we will have the same on another Princess ship.

 

They were almost finished replacing beds in all cabins on the Crown Princess in January. It was a very comfortable bed.

Edited May 28, 2015 by qsuzi

[sammiedawg]

Have the Princess beds improved? I was on the Ruby in Nov 2013 and thought I was sleeping on a slab of granite for 13 nights.

 

Yes, the last couple cruises we've had modest pillow top mattresses on Princess.

[cruz chic]

Point seats are very limited on all flights so yes, lots of people ARE paying that price. Just like people are paying $4000 to sail.

 

I just did a search of airfares going for Calgary to London for about a month from now. The VERY highest airfare I found for first/business class was $5800. I suspect that fares are much less from the USA. Unless you are booking at the last minute there is no way the fare will be $7500. Could you kindly provide the name of the airline and date you see this price since you insist I'm wrong. On my last cruise I must have dined with 100 different people. Everyone I dined with was itching to tell me how little they paid. It was only around $500 for most people. Unless you are talking neptune suites I'd love to hear how you are coming up with your info that people are paying $4000 to sail. I never initiated any of these discussions on price and I'm sick to death of hearing about how cheap it is.

Edited May 28, 2015 by cruz chic

[zerbot]

I just did a search of airfares going for Calgary to London for about a month from now. The VERY highest airfare I found for first/business class was $5800. I suspect that fares are much less from the USA. Unless you are booking at the last minute there is no way the fare will be $7500. Could you kindly provide the name of the airline and date you see this price since you insist I'm wrong. On my last cruise I must have dined with 100 different people. Everyone I dined with was itching to tell me how little they paid. It was only around $500 for most people. Unless you are talking neptune suites I'd love to hear how you are coming up with your info that people are paying $4000 to sail. I never initiated any of these discussions on price and I'm sick to death of hearing about how cheap it is.

 

The airline was British Airways, and since the poster has a Red Sox logo, I'm assuming Boston. Punching in London to Boston, business class a month from now gets £4866, which at current exchange rates is within spitting distance of $7500.

[chrisbu315]

They were almost finished replacing beds in all cabins on the Crown Princess in January. It was a very comfortable bed.

 

Thanks. Our two biggest complaints with Princess were the beds and coffee. Even the stuff I paid for at the International Café was not all that great. I always considered comfortable beds and good coffee (at the Explorations Café) two strong points for HAL. With these improvements, Princess definitely moves up on my list.

[Randyk47]

The airline was British Airways, and since the poster has a Red Sox logo, I'm assuming Boston. Punching in London to Boston, business class a month from now gets £4866, which at current exchange rates is within spitting distance of $7500.

 

And the fun part is that the price you got might not even be the same in another hour or so and almost certainly not the same tomorrow. Airfares are all over the place. More expensive on Saturday, cheaper on Tuesday, down at 1 AM, up at 3 PM, and so on. There are way too many pricing variables to even attempt to cover them here.

[qsuzi]

And the fun part is that the price you got might not even be the same in another hour or so and almost certainly not the same tomorrow. Airfares are all over the place. More expensive on Saturday, cheaper on Tuesday, down at 1 AM, up at 3 PM, and so on. There are way too many pricing variables to even attempt to cover them here.

 

With some exceptions in airline and itinerary, finding the best air fare is a maddening experience even when you follow advice like you listed. What makes it even more difficult is the lack of non-stop flights from many airports.

Edited May 28, 2015 by qsuzi

[iancal]

Last winter we wanted to go from Kuala Lumpur to Brisbane or Gold Coast. The fares changed, and sometime within an hour.

 

Our target fare ($250) disappeared for a week, then came back but on another day departure.

 

We checked the next day, in the AM. Still too high at $450. Three hours later we booked it at $250. No idea what happened after that because we did not care...we were committed.

 

We plan to book late August air to Europe but need to wait until late next week for personal reasons. We are hoping that the fare remains the same until we can hit the enter button and book it.

Edited May 28, 2015 by iancal