Is cruising still worth it?

[Kamloops50]

I questioned this conclusion elsewhere, but I thought I'd calculate what our recent cruise of the British Isles cost us. Adding together just the cost of the cruise and the flights from midwest America, I found that we paid nearly $600 per day for two of us in the cheapest outside cabins with a mid-priced cruise line.

 

Compare that to the cost of traveling on the road in far more luxurious hotel rooms, "specialty" restaurants for every meal, modest prices for incidentals like laundry and Internet, etc. I agree that once upon a time cruising was relatively inexpensive, but most if not all other posts on this thread are staying away from that way to justify it.

 

But my focus is on value, not absolute cost. The question is whether we're getting as much value in exchange for the escalating costs and movement toward mega-ships that transport thousands of people, all who want to eat, get on/off the ship at virtually the same time. At a tendering port on our recent cruise, some had to wait more than 2 hours to tender ashore and another 2 hours or more to wait for a tender back. Considering that mega-ships are more likely to need to anchor offshore, that means more time needed to get to the ports that cruisers dreamed of visiting and the likelihood that mega-ships will avoid those more remote ports. Is that progress or what? ~ Bill.

 

 

 

We normally don't do tender ports except Lahaina in Maui. For us it's a time to get away from family and phone . On a road trip you have to arrange everything yourself. With the current exchange rate for the Canadian dollar any trip to the US other than cruising gets expensive.

 

 

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[Cruise Junky]

We've turned to more and more land trips. I just can't justify the cost of cruises when compared to what we can do on our own. Greek Villas for $1,500 cdn a week, A Condo up at Turtle Bay for around $1,100 cdn for a week. We're staying at a beautiful guest house in Port Douglas in November for $1,300 for a week. Two years ago we did Paris, Munich, Salzburg & Vienna for the Christmas Markets and it was $4,000 Cdn. for two weeks staying in first class hotels. Find me a river cruise for $2,000 pp for 15 nights? You just can't touch that on a cruise.

 

There are definite upsides to cruises and routes that can't be compared to doing a land trip, don't get me wrong but I think our first preference now is a land trip. I don't want that Greek Taverna with the checkered table cloth sitting on the side of the water replaced with a generic cruise ship meal.

[Cruise Junky]

Another thing I forgot to mention is currency. For Canadians we're paying a 30% markup on everything. Drinks, Excursions, Cruises. Take our Australia trip for instance. We were originally booked on a Celebrity Ship to do the East Coast. Australian Dollar and Canadian Dollar are about at par but if I did the cruise, everything would be + 30%. Everything we would have wanted to do through the ship would have cost their markup plus 30% currency. That makes for a very expensive cruise

[bUU]

For Canadians we're paying a 30% markup on everything.

But if let's say you're taking a Mexican cruise, then you're enjoying an 1426% discount on every drink, all your food, all the souvenirs you buy, etc., as long as you purchase with pesos.

 

So you're really coming out ahead 1394%.

 

(I'm being facetious. You're not paying a 30% markup on anything. Your payment is being exchanged into the corresponding value of American dollars based on the prevailing exchange rate, the same as when you purchase anything with a different currency than your own.)

[Cruise Junky]

But if let's say you're taking a Mexican cruise, then you're enjoying an 1426% discount on every drink, all your food, all the souvenirs you buy, etc., as long as you purchase with pesos.

 

So you're really coming out ahead 1394%.

 

(I'm being facetious. You're not paying a 30% markup on anything. Your payment is being exchanged into the corresponding value of American dollars based on the prevailing exchange rate, the same as when you purchase anything with a different currency than your own.)

 

But in this context of comparing a land trip to a cruise... let's take a Great Barrier Reef snorkeling trip. The same trip I can take on a land trip for $200 Australian which is approx. $200 Canadian will be $299 US per person on a ship and now add a 30% increase for the Canadian dollar. Markup, currency exchange whatever you want to call it, I'm paying far more on a cruise than I would on land.

[Kamloops50]

We've turned to more and more land trips. I just can't justify the cost of cruises when compared to what we can do on our own. Greek Villas for $1,500 cdn a week, A Condo up at Turtle Bay for around $1,100 cdn for a week. We're staying at a beautiful guest house in Port Douglas in November for $1,300 for a week. Two years ago we did Paris, Munich, Salzburg & Vienna for the Christmas Markets and it was $4,000 Cdn. for two weeks staying in first class hotels. Find me a river cruise for $2,000 pp for 15 nights? You just can't touch that on a cruise.

 

There are definite upsides to cruises and routes that can't be compared to doing a land trip, don't get me wrong but I think our first preference now is a land trip. I don't want that Greek Taverna with the checkered table cloth sitting on the side of the water replaced with a generic cruise ship meal.

 

Have you added the cost of food and entertainment to costs. What about airfare ?

[bUU]

But in this context of comparing a land trip to a cruise...

You're working too hard to defend a misleading statement. Let's do it my way: Buy several ounces of gold in AUD or CAD. I'll buy several ounces of gold in USD. Now let's both pay for the same cruise. Guess what? It'll be roughly the same amount of gold that we'll need regardless of how we acquired it.

 

Markup, currency exchange whatever you want to call it, I'm paying far more on a cruise than I would on land.

You lost the thread of the discussion. My comment was in response to your claim that Canadians pay a 30% markup on everything.

[Cruise Junky]

Have you added the cost of food and entertainment to costs. What about airfare ?

 

Of course I do. And airfare, I still have to get there whether I cruise or do a land trip.

 

Right now an average 12 day celebrity med cruise is running around $6,500 Cdn. for a basic balcony. Add in tips and we're close to $7,000. That's before any excursions, pre/post hotels. Do you seriously think I can't do the med for $600 a day? Have you priced villas in Greece, Spain? resort five star hotels? I mentioned on another thread the other day, we stayed at Domes Chania for 199 Euros a night. I had a plunge pool, hot tub, 300 sq foot deck with a hammock and two giant loungers and a table for two. That's less than $300 a day with a killer ocean view.

[Cruise Junky]

You're working too hard to defend a misleading statement. Let's do it my way: Buy several ounces of gold in AUD or CAD. I'll buy several ounces of gold in USD. Now let's both pay for the same cruise. Guess what? It'll be roughly the same amount of gold that we'll need regardless of how we acquired it.

 

You lost the thread of the discussion. My comment was in response to your claim that Canadians pay a 30% markup on everything.

 

Your logic is flawed. I paid 30% more for the gold than you did.

[bUU]

Your logic is flawed. I paid 30% more for the gold than you did.

Your logic is flawed. You paid the same amount for the gold, just using different currency.

[Cruise Junky]

Your logic is flawed. You paid the same amount for the gold, just using different currency.

 

I give up. If you don't understand that paying for same activity costs me $200 on a land trip vs $388 by cruise is not markup then I have no way to convince you otherwise.

[bUU]

I give up. If you don't understand that paying for same activity costs me $200 on a land trip vs $388 by cruise is not markup then I have no way to convince you otherwise.

I wasn't talking about land versus cruise. If you were when you wrote, "For Canadians we're paying a 30% markup on everything," then your comment wasn't very clear and your logic error in the gold-buying example underscored that fact.

[Cruise Junky]

I wasn't talking about land versus cruise. If you were when you wrote, "For Canadians we're paying a 30% markup on everything," then your comment wasn't very clear and your logic error in the gold-buying example underscored that fact.

 

My entire post was comparing costs of an Australian land trip vs doing it by Cruise - not quite sure how you missed that. :rolleyes:

[bUU]

My entire post was comparing costs of an Australian land trip vs doing it by Cruise - not quite sure how you missed that. :rolleyes:

I didn't miss it. What I was pointing out was that you were overstating the difference, not that there wasn't a difference at all.

[srlafleur]

Is cruising "worth it"? Well, it depends a great deal upon what your definition of "it" is, doesn't it? It's not worth it for me if your definition of a cruise is baking in the Caribbean sun for 7 days. That's not something I would care to do,and, if I cared to, it's something I could do at an all-inclusive or even my own back yard (depending on the time of year).

If, however, your definition is, say, sailing on more interesting itineraries to places you've never been and are unlikely or unable to visit without taking multiple flights, trying to book multiple hotels or to find restaurants for every meal, then, yeah, a cruise is definitely worth it.

Seems many people equate "cruise" with "Caribbean", and there is SO much more out there!

[Kamloops50]

We have all inclusive and they aren't for us. Cruising is a way to rest ,relax and have everything on tap for us. If we could do a 14 day cruise with only one port day , we would in our happy place.

 

 

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[NantahalaCruiser]

I consider a stress free and one inclusive price vacation totally worth it. Pay one price at the time of booking and pretty much everything is taken care of the minute you board the ship. What more can you expect?

Have to agree with the "stress free" value. My wife and I love to cruise and usually take one per year. However, for 2018, we decided to instead take a rail trip through both the Canadian and American rock mountains (with some additional car rentals.) While I generally enjoy cruise planning (selecting an itinerary, ship, private shore excursions, etc.) I am finding that planning the rail trip is a bit more stressful:

 

I was originally planning on flying into Calgary, taking a rental car from there to Banff and Jasper, then the train from Jasper to Vancouver, Vancouver to Portland, and Portland to Glacier National Park. But when I got to the 12 month window for rental cars, I found that there is no rental car company that allows a drop off in Jasper. So I had to totally change my plans to flying into Edmonton, take a train from Edmonton to Jasper and then a rental car down and back to Banff. In addition, I found that hotel reservations inside Glacier National Park were not easy. Luckily I was smart enough to call the in-park booking agency to find out exactly when the bookings for July 2018 would open - 7:00 am Mountain time for both internet and phone reservations. When I finally made it into the website at 7:05 my first two room choices were gone, but I was still able to book my third choice.

 

I know that we will love the trip, but I will also love getting back to less stressful cruise planning!

[Cruise Junky]

 

I was originally planning on flying into Calgary, taking a rental car from there to Banff and Jasper, then the train from Jasper to Vancouver, Vancouver to Portland, and Portland to Glacier National Park. But when I got to the 12 month window for rental cars, I found that there is no rental car company that allows a drop off in Jasper. So I had to totally change my plans to flying into Edmonton, take a train from Edmonton to Jasper and then a rental car down and back to Banff. In addition, I found that hotel reservations inside Glacier National Park were not easy. Luckily I was smart enough to call the in-park booking agency to find out exactly when the bookings for July 2018 would open - 7:00 am Mountain time for both internet and phone reservations. When I finally made it into the website at 7:05 my first two room choices were gone, but I was still able to book my third choice.

 

I know that we will love the trip, but I will also love getting back to less stressful cruise planning!

 

I had to drive this route (other than Portland) from Vancouver last year for a meeting. Could you not have picked up the car in Edmonton, driven to Jasper and then down to Banff and dropped the car in Banff?

[Kamloops50]

Have you considered taking the Rocky Mountaineer from Whistler BC to Jasper . Spend sometime in Jasper and Banff National Parks. The the Rocky Mountaineer from Banff or Jasper back to Vancouver. Each train is two full days with hotels supplied for the overnights

 

 

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[NantahalaCruiser]

We've turned to more and more land trips. I just can't justify the cost of cruises when compared to what we can do on our own. Greek Villas for $1,500 cdn a week, A Condo up at Turtle Bay for around $1,100 cdn for a week. We're staying at a beautiful guest house in Port Douglas in November for $1,300 for a week. Two years ago we did Paris, Munich, Salzburg & Vienna for the Christmas Markets and it was $4,000 Cdn. for two weeks staying in first class hotels. Find me a river cruise for $2,000 pp for 15 nights? You just can't touch that on a cruise.

 

There are definite upsides to cruises and routes that can't be compared to doing a land trip, don't get me wrong but I think our first preference now is a land trip. I don't want that Greek Taverna with the checkered table cloth sitting on the side of the water replaced with a generic cruise ship meal.

I agree with most of your points but still believe that many Ocean cruises provide excellent value for the money. As you say, it often depends on the route.

 

To give a couple of examples:

- a combined Iceland, Shetland Islands and Norweigan Fjords or a South American trip around Cape Horn would be prohibitively expensive to duplicate with the costs of intermediate airfare.

- and a cruise solely to Norway would also be much more expensive to duplicate due to the high cost of hotels and restaurants compared to the shipboard cost of room and board.

 

To a great extent land and ocean vacations are apples and orange comparisons; land providing much more cultural immersion while ocean often providing brief cultural tastes in major cities of several countries.

 

To me, both can provide excellent value for reasonable prices.

[Cruise Junky]

I agree with most of your points but still believe that many Ocean cruises provide excellent value for the money. As you say, it often depends on the route.

 

To give a couple of examples:

- a combined Iceland, Shetland Islands and Norweigan Fjords or a South American trip around Cape Horn would be prohibitively expensive to duplicate with the costs of intermediate airfare.

- and a cruise solely to Norway would also be much more expensive to duplicate due to the high cost of hotels and restaurants compared to the shipboard cost of room and board.

 

To a great extent land and ocean vacations are apples and orange comparisons; land providing much more cultural immersion while ocean often providing brief cultural tastes in major cities of several countries.

 

To me, both can provide excellent value for reasonable prices.

 

Very good examples of where cruises make sense as well as Tahiti. Frightfully expensive by land.

[NantahalaCruiser]

I had to drive this route (other than Portland) from Vancouver last year for a meeting. Could you not have picked up the car in Edmonton, driven to Jasper and then down to Banff and dropped the car in Banff?

I was planning on using Via Rail to travel from Jasper to Vancouver - so needed to leave the car in Jasper.

 

But the reason for my posting was to point out how ocean cruising is easier and less stressful to plan since it is more inclusive - hotel, room and transportation all in one package for a reasonable price.

[NantahalaCruiser]

Have you considered taking the Rocky Mountaineer from Whistler BC to Jasper . Spend sometime in Jasper and Banff National Parks. The the Rocky Mountaineer from Banff or Jasper back to Vancouver. Each train is two full days with hotels supplied for the overnights

 

 

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I considered the Rocky Mountaineer, but with the costs incurred at the lodges in Glacier National Park, the Rocky Mountaineer exceeded my budget. Had I been planning a tour of only the Canadian Rockies I probably would have taken the Mountaineer.

[BOGOman]

My entire post was comparing costs of an Australian land trip vs doing it by Cruise - not quite sure how you missed that. :rolleyes:

 

Could we say we're reached an impasse on that subject? Actually, it's not the subject of this thread, which is to compare cruising now to cruising in the past without picking on a particular cruise line. Are we still getting the same value as before when cruising? While there are side effects to pro/con changes in cruising, such as an ongoing comparison to other forms of vacationing and changing costs due to changing valuations of currencies, is cruising as good as it used to be in terms of its own intrinsic value? For example, is the era of mega cruise ships a boon or a bust? Are we still willing to pay the exorbitant costs for things onboard or is that getting out of hand? Is it still special, or has it largely become so commercialized that it's now an expensive commodity? ~ Bill

Edited August 28, 2017 by BOGOman

[Cruise Junky]

Actually, it's not the subject of this thread, which is to compare cruising now to cruising in the past without picking on a particular cruise line. Are we still getting the same value as before when cruising?

 

that question in itself is a hard one to answer because everyone values something different. Food has deteriorated and hard selling is up, service is stretched but we have rock climbing walls, ice shows and included drinks. It all depends on which of those you value. The included entertainment on say RCL or NCL for kids is incredible but if you don't have kids, it's not a factor. We can only answer for us personally that value is dropping.