$7.95 Room Service Charge

[BEENSAILING]

I sent the email below to Special Needs. We are currently booked for 2 upcoming cruises, one is in a Accessible Balcony, the other an accessible was not available so we booked a Junior Suite in order to get a wider door in order to accommodate a mobility scooter.

 

 

As per the email below, they are waiving the RS fee for me on both cruises.

 

 

Below is the email I sent to Special Needs, followed by their response.

 

 

Hi

 

 

 

Being disabled - I have some concerns about the new $7.95 room service charge. Although I plan to have a scooter for these 2 cruises, There are days and or evenings when I am simply not able to even get on the scooter and go out for a bite to eat. I can understand the charge for able bodied persons who are able to leave their rooms and get something to eat, however, I do not see it as being fair to those of us who because of our disability are not able to go out whenever we please.

 

 

Please consider waiving the fee for those in an accessible cabin, or those who have been flagged in your systems as being disabled.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank-you for your consideration.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for contacting the Access Department with your inquiry.

 

 

 

I am pleased to advise you advise you that you will not be charged the fee for room service and I have coded your reservations and the ship staff will be advised as well.

 

 

 

Once you arrive at the pier, we recommend speaking with one of our agents and they will be able to arrange boarding assistance. During peak times, there may be a wait for assistance.

 

 

 

We also recommend speaking with the Guest Services/Relations Desk who will assist you with accommodations for the departure at the end of your cruise.

 

 

 

Best Regards,

 

 

 

Tracy Cabrera

 

Senior Access Advocate

 

I am glad for you this has been taken care of by Royal.

[Clarea]

What happens with someone confined to the room owing to be sick?

I assume that would be free.

I knew someone who was sick and confined to their stateroom (non-suite) and got to order from the MDR menu.

[CaptainBazinga]

Perhaps, might depend on who is doing the confining (ship or self).

 

Post #1000 and the honor goes to Biker19! :D

 

CD

[BEENSAILING]

<p>

<b>Post #1000 and the honor goes to Biker19! </b><img src="images/clear.png?emoji-grin-1677" border="0" alt="" title="Big Grin" smilieid="3" class="inlineimg"><br>

<br>

CD

</p><br><p>wow. that's didn't take long....<img src="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/clear.png?emoji-champagne-toast-2132" id="smilie_36" alt=":champagne-toast:" title="Champagne Toast"></p>

[glittergal1]

 

They do want loyalty. In business, loyalty is the willingness to purchase something at a premium, so in this context, paying the $7.95 because you value the service that they're offering. Demanding that room service remains without a charge is the opposite of loyalty. And let's be clear: The cruise line is explicitly recognizing that introducing the fee in this manner warranted some compensation to passengers past the point where they can cancel with a full refund, and they are offering affected guests compensation for that. So all that's left is the matter of whether there should be a charge, and folks who answer 'no' are labeling themselves as folks who weren't really loyal. And there is nothing wrong with not being loyal to a cruise line. I'm surely not. It is important to be honest with ourselves though about that.

 

 

Are they offering compensation to effected guests???????? If so Ive not received any yet !!!!!!!!

[Biker19]

^ a few of the pre-complainers.

[glittergal1]

I am a complainer , I obviously didnt complain loud enough :')

[OceanCruise]

I do not like this new fee at all but recognize that, as a business, RCCL can do what they want and the customer has a choice. However, I strongly feel they should grandfather those who booked when room service was advertised as free or at least provide a $50 credit for a 7 day cruise to those persons (basically one free room service daily). I have mixed feelings about those wanting it free due to a disability. While it would be generous for a cruise line to do this, I feel this will be abused by those just wanting to avoid paying the fee. Would you expect a hotel to provide you with free room service? Does being "elderly" constitute a disability? Having diabetes? Should an able-bodied companion be expected to obtain the food for you instead? While I am sympathetic to those with limited mobility, I think exceptions will open up a can of worms.

[The_Big_M]

Care to elaborate? I've heard people bragging that they did this!

 

 

 

 

More that they won't be charged in that situation.

[Ocean Boy]

on my upcoming 12 nite Medit., one of the beauty is having breakfast on my balcony while sailing into port. I'll make sure if I see a tray in the corridor, I'll abscond with it to my cabin and use to transport any hot entrees from the WJ.

 

The only problem, the tours are early and we usually would order for delivery by 6am and the WJ opens at 7am, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe because of the surcharge in place, RCL should open the WJ by 6am.

Wonder, if anyone taken an out order from the MDR

Actually, on our recent cruise on Freedom they did just that. On the mornings when we had early port arrivals the opening time of the Windjammer was adjusted to compensate.

[Ocean Boy]

What happens with someone confined to the room owing to be sick?

I assume that would be free.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Perhaps, might depend on who is doing the confining (ship or self).

Yes, I suspect that if they are confined by the ship's personnel that the charges would be waived. In the past I have read about charges for pay-per-view movies and minibar charges being waived in that situation also.

 

And from an above post it appears that the Special Needs department is taking care of people with disabilities so it appears that will not be an issue either. Now I guess those who don't want to pay the fee will have a reason to take a walk in their stylish RCI bath robes to someplace where food is available. Then the old thread on wearing those robes outside of one's cabin can be resurrected.

[Paulxyz2004]

on my upcoming 12 nite Medit., one of the beauty is having breakfast on my balcony while sailing into port. I'll make sure if I see a tray in the corridor, I'll abscond with it to my cabin and use to transport any hot entrees from the WJ.

 

The only problem, the tours are early and we usually would order for delivery by 6am and the WJ opens at 7am, if I'm not mistaken. Maybe because of the surcharge in place, RCL should open the WJ by 6am.

Wonder, if anyone taken an out order from the MDR

 

 

Might be a sensible Approach but not without implementing an early Access fee of $9.99 per Person (on site Dining only) take out would be charged an extra $17.99 :p Oh yeah for your convenience 18% gratuity will be added atomatically.:D

 

ETA: I´ve never seen the WJ not open in time to accomodate any early port arrivals / early tours. I always use the WJ for breakfast and times have always been in accordance to itinerary.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Paulxyz2004

[Paulxyz2004]

Also as people feel nickel and dimed more and more on a cruise it begins to have the same feeling as a land vacation which causes a cruise to lose what makes cruising special. If you can get the same experience on land for the same price or less, why cruise? This is something more and more people will ask themselves in the upcoming years.

 

 

I´m not sure what you are looking at in Cruises vs. landbased vacations. To me a landbased vacation can never be the same as a cruise. I don´t know about any Resort on land that can offer me the same as a cruise. I don´t say one is better than the other, as that is totally personal Preference and everybody must make that decision for themselves. I just say IMO they are not the least bit comparable. I don´t know about any landbase Resort that takes me to a different exciting new place overnight, while I´m enjoying the luxury of my stateroom and all amenities on the ship. This is all while my room travels with me and I just have to pack / unpack once.

 

If one feels nickeled and dimed it´s a matter of personal Feelings and perception, just like every individual has to decide what vacation is best for them.

 

Personally I only watch the bottom line. It makes no difference to me if the bottom line Comes from a base fare plus multiple upcharges or if it´s a base fare including everything. It´s only the bottom line of both products that Count after everything is paid for.

 

I really don´t Need the All inclusive offer, as I rarely use any of the extra stuff anyway. I can easily cruise for 3 weeks without any extra charges. :eek:

 

It´s the same with airfares. They can´t blind me with low fares and then stick baggage charges and fees and taxes ...... on top. If they are still cheaper after I added everything I Need, that´s fine. Often enough they are not and I book a more expensive fare, but my bottom line is still ahead.

[Board_Shorts]

I posted this in another thread but I feel it applies here too.

 

This is all such a shame, we love Royal and have always sailed with them.

 

The saying "the straw that broke the camel's back" springs to mind. So many cutbacks, removal of small or even tiny touches that make a cruise special - Remember that little pink flower on your table in the MDR? If you hadn't noticed, they've gone. The RC pen and notepad on your desk? Of course there's so much more as others will remember.

 

The Cruise Compass didn't used to be filled with $ signs. You'd have a chance to chat with your stateroom attendant because he/she didn't have to take care of so many rooms. Plus of course Room Service was complementary, it was all just part of cruising.

 

Now look at the fact that the company made $1.2 billion profit last year... and that fact makes all these cutbacks a lot harder to swallow, it's not as if they're on the brink.

 

Yes the prices have come down and maybe I'm naive in thinking all of these small things could continue.

 

I don't know what the straw that breaks the camel's back will be, but I feel we're getting close.

 

I believe that I am RCI's target demographic; mid 30s, couples and families with kids, and as much as I love Royal and will continue to cruise with them for now, my partner is now very eager to try other lines.

 

I'm trying my hardest to justify why we should stay with Royal, but it's getting much more difficult.

 

I have a feeling our cruising future will be a mixture of RC and Princess if what I've heard is true. So many friends have told us we'd love Princess, they say it's "how things used to be", I don't know if that's true. For me, as long as the camel's back can continue take the weight - Royal is "home", for now.

[bUU]

I´m not sure what you are looking at in Cruises vs. landbased vacations. To me a landbased vacation can never be the same as a cruise.

I didn't pick up on that comment in rimmit's early message mainly because I figured it would drive the thread off-topic, but really it doesn't. In the end, what people are sharing about the room service charge is about all-inclusive versus unbundled pricing, full-stop.

 

Obviously, different people have different perspectives: Both rimmit and I do consider and treat cruises and land-based vacations as comparable, and choose one of the other based on the value we each see in what's offered compared to the price. Even so, I'm not sure that rimmit and I view them comparable in the same way. For me, there are different types of vacations - family vacations, city tours, regional tours, beach vacations, etc., and each of those can be land-based or cruise-based, and each of them can be economy, midgrade or deluxe on either.

 

That isn't to say that there aren't cruises that are singular in nature. However, I cannot even say that the best way to see glaciers is on a cruise, because someone will come back relaying a land-based trip that involved landing on glaciers. (Maybe Antartica is an exception; I don't know.)

 

I don´t know about any landbase Resort that takes me to a different exciting new place overnight, while I´m enjoying the luxury of my stateroom and all amenities on the ship.

That level of granularity is overly prescriptive, like telling a surgeon how you want them to cut into you. I do know of land-based VACATIONS that take me to different exciting places every day, while I'm enjoying the luxury of wonderful hotel accommodations. Our Nile cruise was actually part of a longer, mostly land-based vacation, which started in Cairo, with stops (talking just about the land-based portion of the vacation) in Alexandria, Giza, Luxor, and Aswan. There are excellent companies that offer such packaged land-based "cruises". The one we used in Egypt is so incredibly good that I would use them again in a heartbeat, and for our upcoming twenty-fifth annivesary we compare one of their, completely land-based, tours of Great Britain to what we eventually decided to do (an Alaskan cruise). We have also gone on a land-based "cruise" offered by a Mickey Mouse outfit based in Anaheim CA, which brought us through various "ports" in America's southwest, which was just as excellent.

 

This is all while my room travels with me and I just have to pack / unpack once.

The Southwest Splendors trip took our bags from us when we arrived in PHX and we never lifted them again. The had our bags dropped in our hotel rooms, retrieved from our hotel rooms and loaded onto the tour bus, etc.

 

It isn't the "same" as a cruise, but it is comparable. Some folks place a lot of value on being able to unpack and settled into a hotel room, while other folks don't. Some folks place a lot of value on the sea voyage aspect, while others abhor that. But the overall vacation itself, the idea of visiting multiple places over the course of the week, with some or most things included, that's the same.

 

If one feels nickeled and dimed it´s a matter of personal Feelings and perception, just like every individual has to decide what vacation is best for them.

Absolutely. People need to take responsibility for their own emotional responses and physical reactions to what they encounter. That Jim Rohn quote is ringing in my head, "It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go."

 

Personally I only watch the bottom line. It makes no difference to me if the bottom line Comes from a base fare plus multiple upcharges or if it´s a base fare including everything. It´s only the bottom line of both products that Count after everything is paid for.

I feel the same. I mentioned earlier in the thread that I view all-inclusive pricing as if you're buying insurance against the likelihood of wanting this food and that drink. Insurance is always a good deal for the insurer. The insured is always better off if they can afford to self-insure, which means not buying insurance but rather paying for the costs that insurance would otherwise pay from their own resources.

 

 

Now look at the fact that the company made $1.2 billion profit last year... and that fact makes all these cutbacks a lot harder to swallow, it's not as if they're on the brink.

I don't get your point. The fact that they're profitable and getting more profitable means that the changes they're making are ones that the typical customers prefer over what they were doing before. There are always atypical customers, but if you try to make sense of things from that perspective then things will never make sense. To understand the reality of things you need to focus on the typical customers, the ones that represent more than 50% of next year's revenue. And you need to understand them not by listening to what they're saying - talk is cheap - but by watching what they do, what they spend their money on - actions speak louder than words.

 

I don't know what the straw that breaks the camel's back will be, but I feel we're getting close.

I've been here on CC for well over a decade. It took me two seconds to find someone saying the same thing in 2004 - 13 year ago: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=1274474&postcount=13 And you can find long threads from then about this policy change or that policy change or this change in service or that change in service, all with people proclaiming that RCI is reaching a tipping point, or soon it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, or saying the same thing through some other commonly-used phrase. It never happens because the cruise line is paying attention to what the typical consumer is saying with their actions rather than their words. Edited March 25, 2017 by bUU

[Ocean Boy]

 

If you hadn't noticed, they've gone. The RC pen and notepad on your desk? Of course there's so much more as others will remember.

Funny that you mention the pen and paper. Apparently RCI gives neither to the cabin attendants either. Two weeks ago on Freedom I asked our cabin attendant for something. He asked me if I had a pen. After I gave him a pen to use he proceeded to add my request to the list that he had written on the palm of his hand.:rolleyes:

[Board_Shorts]

Funny that you mention the pen and paper. Apparently RCI gives neither to the cabin attendants either. Two weeks ago on Freedom I asked our cabin attendant for something. He asked me if I had a pen. After I gave him a pen to use he proceeded to add my request to the list that he had written on the palm of his hand.:rolleyes:

 

It seems the cuts run deeper than we think! It's all starting to make sense. Great first impression eh? :rolleyes:

[Board_Shorts]

People proclaiming that RCI is reaching a tipping point, or soon it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, or saying the same thing through some other commonly-used phrase. It never happens because the cruise line is paying attention to what the typical consumer is saying with their actions rather than their words.

 

I must apologize for the confusion here. The "Camel" to which I refer, in this instance, is myself.

 

And the as yet unknown "straw" will be whichever future event carries me away to pastures new ;)

Edited March 25, 2017 by Board_Shorts

[bUU]

Fair enough. We each make our own decisions every year, as do the cruise lines.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[Nunagoras]

I didn't pick up on that comment in rimmit's early message mainly because I figured it would drive the thread off-topic, but really it doesn't. In the end, what people are sharing about the room service charge is about all-inclusive versus unbundled pricing, full-stop.

 

Obviously, different people have different perspectives: Both rimmit and I do consider and treat cruises and land-based vacations as comparable, and choose one of the other based on the value we each see in what's offered compared to the price. Even so, I'm not sure that rimmit and I view them comparable in the same way. For me, there are different types of vacations - family vacations, city tours, regional tours, beach vacations, etc., and each of those can be land-based or cruise-based, and each of them can be economy, midgrade or deluxe on either.

 

That isn't to say that there aren't cruises that are singular in nature. However, I cannot even say that the best way to see glaciers is on a cruise, because someone will come back relaying a land-based trip that involved landing on glaciers. (Maybe Antartica is an exception; I don't know.)

 

That level of granularity is overly prescriptive, like telling a surgeon how you want them to cut into you. I do know of land-based VACATIONS that take me to different exciting places every day, while I'm enjoying the luxury of wonderful hotel accommodations. Our Nile cruise was actually part of a longer, mostly land-based vacation, which started in Cairo, with stops (talking just about the land-based portion of the vacation) in Alexandria, Giza, Luxor, and Aswan. There are excellent companies that offer such packaged land-based "cruises". The one we used in Egypt is so incredibly good that I would use them again in a heartbeat, and for our upcoming twenty-fifth annivesary we compare one of their, completely land-based, tours of Great Britain to what we eventually decided to do (an Alaskan cruise). We have also gone on a land-based "cruise" offered by a Mickey Mouse outfit based in Anaheim CA, which brought us through various "ports" in America's southwest, which was just as excellent.

 

The Southwest Splendors trip took our bags from us when we arrived in PHX and we never lifted them again. The had our bags dropped in our hotel rooms, retrieved from our hotel rooms and loaded onto the tour bus, etc.

 

It isn't the "same" as a cruise, but it is comparable. Some folks place a lot of value on being able to unpack and settled into a hotel room, while other folks don't. Some folks place a lot of value on the sea voyage aspect, while others abhor that. But the overall vacation itself, the idea of visiting multiple places over the course of the week, with some or most things included, that's the same.

 

Absolutely. People need to take responsibility for their own emotional responses and physical reactions to what they encounter. That Jim Rohn quote is ringing in my head, "It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go."

 

I feel the same. I mentioned earlier in the thread that I view all-inclusive pricing as if you're buying insurance against the likelihood of wanting this food and that drink. Insurance is always a good deal for the insurer. The insured is always better off if they can afford to self-insure, which means not buying insurance but rather paying for the costs that insurance would otherwise pay from their own resources.

 

 

I don't get your point. The fact that they're profitable and getting more profitable means that the changes they're making are ones that the typical customers prefer over what they were doing before. There are always atypical customers, but if you try to make sense of things from that perspective then things will never make sense. To understand the reality of things you need to focus on the typical customers, the ones that represent more than 50% of next year's revenue. And you need to understand them not by listening to what they're saying - talk is cheap - but by watching what they do, what they spend their money on - actions speak louder than words.

 

I've been here on CC for well over a decade. It took me two seconds to find someone saying the same thing in 2004 - 13 year ago: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=1274474&postcount=13 And you can find long threads from then about this policy change or that policy change or this change in service or that change in service, all with people proclaiming that RCI is reaching a tipping point, or soon it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, or saying the same thing through some other commonly-used phrase. It never happens because the cruise line is paying attention to what the typical consumer is saying with their actions rather than their words.

 

100% Agree with you bUU (?)!... Fortunately or unfortunately depending on whoever is reading our conversation, truth is that Mainstream or Mass Market cruising is going the way that you pay a basic fare for your cabin and basic food and perharps some very basic drinks and on top of that you'll most likely pay a la carte for all the other extras that may be available. Oh! But we are aboard a ship we can't escape... Well... But at least all of us know that when we actually purchase our cruise tickets and though we "sign" our contract with whatever line we choose to go with!... This is a trend that seems to be very well stablished in the market, and believe me or not it won't go the other way in next several decades.

 

Of course there will always be a certain number of the ones whom will most likely be ready to pay more upfront to receive more once aboard. Companies are attentive to that. Then the current suite programs or some sort of "class" system like the one being successfuly introduced by MSC where one can choose the type of cabin they want with the kind of perks they want, from basic insides with nothing attached apart from basic food to sophisticated suites with that "good ole days" almost all inclusive experience coupled with 24 hours a day buttler service, personalized consierges and an infinite number of other little perks!... And of course they have all sorts of "experiences" in the middle term!...

 

Believe me or not this will be the future for the Mass Market cruising of the next decades and this is what is being implemented in some or other ways by the operators that are now in the market, and that is what will be implemented by someone who enters the market in the next decades. I have no doubst on that. Want a proof? Try to see NCL: Some 10 to 15 years ago they were a nearly defunct brand. Then they went with their freestyle cruising environment with more or less all the elements that I descibed above... And where are they now? Ordering new ships to go to new destinations and capture new cruisers... And they joined with the likes of Regent and Oceanea to stay on all the market segments there are currenthly... They may not be running so bad like some may think!... And believe me or not they are even defining trends in the industry!... :)

 

Permit me finally a last word about people with disabilities like myself which seems one of the central topics on this tread. Well, by principle I'm against a disabled person to receive benefits "only" because they are alive as a disabled individual. But now let us see: There are times on where what seems a benefit is really the satisfaction of a real basic need. There are some disabled people who are really unable to reach certain levels of service by themselves, and it's not expectable that they have to rely on whomever goes with them 100% of the time. Then and on a case by case situation service providers may consider appropriate ways to serve those in question! It's allways a nice touch that is very well received not only from us but I hope from the general public as well because nobody whants to become a disabled one day!... And finally to the ones with mixed opinions on this topic: When I'm talking about the disabled, I'm talking about those ones whom have legal proof of that from their country or region legal health authorities and whom, like me, give that proof to the special needs department of their cruise line of choice on the time of booking via email or most likely like me with my TA's help!

 

Have a nice day!

Edited March 25, 2017 by Nunagoras

[bamelin]

100% Agree with you bUU (?)!... Fortunately or unfortunately depending on whoever is reading our conversation, truth is that Mainstream or Mass Market cruising is going the way that you pay a basic fare for your cabin and basic food and perharps some very basic drinks and on top of that you'll most likely pay a la carte for all the other extras that may be available. Oh! But we are aboard a ship we can't escape... Well... But at least all of us know that when we actually purchase our cruise tickets and though we "sign" our contract with whatever line we choose to go with!... This is a trend that seems to be very well stablished in the market, and believe me or not it won't go the other way in next several decades.

 

Of course there will always be a certain number of the ones whom will most likely be ready to pay more upfront to receive more once aboard. Companies are attentive to that. Then the current suite programs or some sort of "class" system like the one being successfuly introduced by MSC where one can choose the type of cabin they want with the kind of perks they want, from basic insides with nothing attached apart from basic food to sophisticated suites with that "good ole days" almost all inclusive experience coupled with 24 hours a day buttler service, personalized consierges and an infinite number of other little perks!... And of course they have all sorts of "experiences" in the middle term!...

 

Believe me or not this will be the future for the Mass Market cruising of the next decades and this is what is being implemented in some or other ways by the operators that are now in the market, and that is what will be implemented by someone who enters the market in the next decades. I have no doubst on that. Want a proof? Try to see NCL: Some 10 to 15 years ago they were a nearly defunct brand. Then they went with their freestyle cruising environment with more or less all the elements that I descibed above... And where are they now? Ordering new ships to go to new destinations and capture new cruisers... And they joined with the likes of Regent and Oceanea to stay on all the market segments there are currenthly... They may not be running so bad like some may think!... And believe me or not they are even defining trends in the industry!... :)

 

Permit me finally a last word about people with disabilities like myself which seems one of the central topics on this tread. Well, by principle I'm against a disabled person to receive benefits "only" because they are alive as a disabled individual. But now let us see: There are times on where what seems a benefit is really the satisfaction of a real basic need. There are some disabled people who are really unable to reach certain levels of service by themselves, and it's not expectable that they have to rely on whomever goes with them 100% of the time. Then and on a case by case situation service providers may consider appropriate ways to serve those in question! It's allways a nice touch that is very well received not only from us but I hope from the general public as well because nobody whants to become a disabled one day!... And finally to the ones with mixed opinions on this topic: When I'm talking about the disabled, I'm talking about those ones whom have legal proof of that from their country or region legal health authorities and whom, like me, give that proof to the special needs department of their cruise line of choice on the time of booking via email or most likely like me with my TA's help!

 

Have a nice day!

 

MSC is certainly making waves in North America ... that's in part thanks to Rick Sasso's savyness.

 

Personally though for me, I started cruising at the closing days (mid 2000's) of the "all inclusive" experience offered on mainstream (Contemporary and Premium) lines.

 

As Contemporary and Premium lines start nickle and diming, both Azamara and Oceania (Deluxe segment) become more and more appealing. As a great as 700 - 800 per person sounds for a balcony cabin for a week, I'd rather pay 1500 - 2000 per person and have an experience similar to what I remember.

 

Even accounting for inflation the Deluxe segment is probably similar price wise to what cruises used to cost. And includes all the bells and whistles.

 

For me Premium cruises with Princess/HAL/Celebrity still offer enough value for the dollar that I don't need to make the jump to the Deluxe segment ... yet.

 

Contemporary cruises on the other hand with RCCL, Carnival, NCL, and MSC have lost my business. This thread is yet another example of why.

[rimmit]

I didn't pick up on that comment in rimmit's early message mainly because I figured it would drive the thread off-topic, but really it doesn't. In the end, what people are sharing about the room service charge is about all-inclusive versus unbundled pricing, full-stop.

 

Obviously, different people have different perspectives: Both rimmit and I do consider and treat cruises and land-based vacations as comparable, and choose one of the other based on the value we each see in what's offered compared to the price. Even so, I'm not sure that rimmit and I view them comparable in the same way. For me, there are different types of vacations - family vacations, city tours, regional tours, beach vacations, etc., and each of those can be land-based or cruise-based, and each of them can be economy, midgrade or deluxe on either.

 

That isn't to say that there aren't cruises that are singular in nature. However, I cannot even say that the best way to see glaciers is on a cruise, because someone will come back relaying a land-based trip that involved landing on glaciers. (Maybe Antartica is an exception; I don't know.)

 

Antarctica you have to take an expedition of some sort that typically involves a boat. There are no real land based vacations to Antarctica. Cruises can cruise to Antarctica but will never make landfall, only expedition vessels with Zodiacs can make land fall. While there are glaciers in Antarctica, the majority of your time in Antartica is spent on land or sea ice. Rarely would you ever get on a glacier. Either way, while it is pricey to go to Antarctica, any expedition line does not make you feel "nickel and dimed" in the same aspect that RCI does. Most expeditions are nearly all inclusive except for alcohol in the lounge and maybe some trinkets they sell onboard in which you would be hardpressed to buy over 100 dollars worth of stuff unless you felt the need to buy a couple fleeces or a super nice winter jacket or multiple souvenirs for people back home. The only thing they may upcharge for is kayaking or camping over night at a landing site. In 16 nights, I ran a bill of 120 dollars because I made some phone calls home, bought some internet time, bought a couple shirts, and bought a couple drinks in the lounge. My typical bill for 16 nights on a cruise ship due to gratuities ranges between 1,000-1,500.

 

I competely agree that there are many different types of vacations. I go on cruises out of a US port as just a chance to disconnect and get "off the grid." Unless it is a TA in which that gives us a a chance to sightsee. I view cruises out of non US ports as "sightseeing" cruises. If I am going out of a US port, an all inclusive is what i consider an equivalent, because one can only go to Nassau and Grand Cayman so many times. My family goes on caribbean/bahamas cruises just to get away. So in this aspect I do compare it to an all inclusive. However, you cannot compare an AI to a Mediterranean vacation, european bus tour, or expedition,

 

The point I was trying to make and bUU most likely agrees, is that over the last 20 years, RCI is clearly changing their demographic market. While there is never truly a "breaking point", people do evetually "jump ship" as the service diminshes. My parents use to love cruising the main lines of RCI, Celebrity and Princess. Now the inly main line they tolerate is Disney, and they go on National Geographic, Viking, Quark, As they cannot tolerate the nickel and diming anymore. I have held out changing my preferred line, but I think I am switching over now as the "nickel and diming" is excessive. The demographic they served in the early 90s has obviously changed, and will continue to change as they are clearly going after more of the CCL and NCI market as of recent and less of the Celebrity and Princess market that they used to cater to. I will continue to use RCI when the circumstances are right(i.e. Really good deal), but I will no longer limit myself to them as I have in the past.

[bUU]

Limiting yourself to just one kind of anything is never good. It makes you captive to the limitation instead of the limitation serving you.

 

This message may have been entered using voice recognition. Please excuse any typos.

[Paulxyz2004]

I didn't pick up on that comment in rimmit's early message mainly because I figured it would drive the thread off

[bUU]

I didn't pick up on that comment in rimmit's early message mainly because I figured it would drive the thread off [but really it doesn't. In the end, what people are sharing about the room service charge is about all-inclusive versus unbundled pricing, full-stop.]

Sorry, but your reply was cut off. :(