What is/was your line in the sand?

[mandersen12345]

So we travel as a family of two parents and three elementary and middle school aged kids.  We've taken 1 Disney cruise (didn't like), 1 Silver Sea (liked) around 8 or 9 Celebrity cruises (liked somewhat), and enough cruises on Royal that we hit Diamond Plus a few weeks ago.  We always travel on Royal in some variation of a two bedroom suite or, if on an Oasis ship, a 2BR Aquatheatre suite.  My wife is a relatively new travel agent only doing cruise sales.

 

And we're done with Royal.

 

The bottom line for me is that we spend a lot of money on cruises.  This past summer we were on Allure for a week in a 2BR aqua theatre.  We spent around $25k.  We were also on Serenade for a Baltic cruise and spent, including pricey shore excursions, over $35k.  Our beef with Royal is for that kind of money we expect to be treated really well.  Like ass kissing well.  Allure's Genie was nice; we'd had Genies before.  But things like quality of food, in-cabin amenities, and other soft product features were just laughable given what we spent (especially true on Serenade where we openly heard other cruises talking about how scant things were that used to be everywhere).

 

Maybe I'm wrong and other people spent tons more onboard and we should just shut up and be happy.  But I don't think so.  You should get what you pay for in life and Royal has not, in our opinion, delivered to us an experience commensurate with dollars spent.

 

What we like, as the parents, is a high quality experience.  Even though we have young children we are not into big and flashy.  Things like that big, multi-story water slide at the back of some of the new ships do nothing for us.  We want to be doted on, dine really well (we think Royal's speciality restaurants aren't that special in terms of food quality and service and the MDR is consistently meh) and leave the vacation feeling relaxed.  

 

Every company has its own business model.  I own a business and I know we have a way of doing things that works for us.  For a company like Royal Caribbean I would think their natural goal would be to attract younger families who have a few extra coins and do what it takes to make them customers for life.  That's where the profit margins are.  Instead, for us, they've pushed us away with overall cut backs and declines in service levels.  We feel we pay a premium when on Royal but get hardly any better an experience than people who pay bottom dollar for an inside cabin.  I'm not trying to come across snobbish.  It's about not receiving an experience commensurate with dollars spent as why we're done with Royal Caribbean.

 

 

[The Fun Researcher]

31 minutes ago, mandersen12345 said:

This past summer we were on Allure for a week in a 2BR aqua theatre.  We spent around $25k.  We were also on Serenade for a Baltic cruise and spent, including pricey shore excursions, over $35k.  Our beef with Royal is for that kind of money we expect to be treated really well.  Like ass kissing well.  Allure's Genie was nice; we'd had Genies before.  But things like quality of food, in-cabin amenities, and other soft product features were just laughable given what we spent (especially true on Serenade where we openly heard other cruises talking about how scant things were that used to be everywhere).

 

Maybe I'm wrong and other people spent tons more onboard and we should just shut up and be happy.  But I don't think so.  You should get what you pay for in life and Royal has not, in our opinion, delivered to us an experience commensurate with dollars spent.

 

 I hope you find a cruise line that will kiss your *ss enough.  

 

Dan

[mandersen12345]

19 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 I hope you find a cruise line that will kiss your *ss enough.  

 

Dan

 

A friend who cruises a fair bit has had similar thoughts about Royal and recently tried the Haven on NCL.  He raved about it relative to Royal's suite offerings.  And it's less expensive than Royal was, he said.  Going to give them a try.  I understand the Haven experience varies by ship, though.

 

I am curious, though.  I didn't mention this in my original post.  Summer 2020 we are leading a group of ourselves plus about 45 cabins on a Canada/New England sailing.  It's organized in a group.  What should we expect from Royal?

 

[goldfish65]

For me it would be if many other cruisers were obnoxious, demanding, loud, rude, inconsiderate, etc.

Edited October 5, 2019 by goldfish65

[The Fun Researcher]

1 minute ago, mandersen12345 said:

 

A friend who cruises a fair bit has had similar thoughts about Royal and recently tried the Haven on NCL.  He raved about it relative to Royal's suite offerings.  And it's less expensive than Royal was, he said.  Going to give them a try.  I understand the Haven experience varies by ship, though.

 

I am curious, though.  I didn't mention this in my original post.  Summer 2020 we are leading a group of ourselves plus about 45 cabins on a Canada/New England sailing.  It's organized in a group.  What should we expect from Royal?

 

 

 I don’t know, but by your comments I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment with any main stream cruise line. (Including NCL). Dropping the kind of cash that you are for each cruise, you may want to move upwards to a true luxury line.   I don’t believe that Royal Caribbean or Norwegian or any other main stream cruise line trains their employees for the type of experience you might be looking for.    

 

Another option might be to drop your price point by getting something like two connecting balconies on a mainstream line and not having such high expectations for service.

 

Dan

[mandersen12345]

Just now, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 I don’t know, but by your comments I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment with any main stream cruise line. (Including NCL). Dropping the kind of cash that you are for each cruise, you may want to move upwards to a true luxury line.   I don’t believe that Royal Caribbean or Norwegian or any other main stream cruise line trains their employees for the type of experience you might be looking for.    

 

Another option might be to drop your price point by getting something like two connecting balconies on a mainstream line and not having such high expectations for service.

 

Dan

 

Thanks.  We had previously thought a mass market line, with a solid kids program, but in suites would suit us.  Now that the kids are older and the kids programs don't matter we've kind of agreed with your line of thinking.  So we canceled our remaining Royal cruises are looking at other, luxury lines.

 

It would take so little for Royal to change things.  A big, big one for us is to restore dining (included or speciality) to former standards.  Our first speciality experience was on Celebrity Summit in the Normandie restaurant.  THAT, we liked.  What we cannot stand on Royal is the blaring pop music in the dining room, luke warm foods, cheap cuts of meat, and lackluster service from overworked staff.  Why other people evidently think this is great relative to how dining was is beyond us.  We are perfectly content to pay for speciality dining but even they suck, with exceptions.

 

We also are utterly shocked at how many of the amenities on ships with them are rarely open.  For example, we took the family Christmas week 2018 on Freedom and were stunned that the water park was hardly ever operational, the ice skating rink not available, and so on.  On the issue of the water park I got so mad at one point I called Miami after being told by onboard staff that was "too dangerous" to run the water park.  THAT WAS ON A PORT DAY.  And we were parked next to a Carnival ship that had a fully operating water park (with multi-story slides) at the exact same time!  I took video and sent it to Miami!  Evidently someone got their ass chewed out because, magically, the water park then started to operate.  It's stupid stuff like that which boggles my mind why Royal gets away with it and why few other people seem to complain.

 

[kathy884]

If it was just me I was considering I wouldn't cruise again, but I'm someone who would never say never.  Personally I prefer land based vacations to doing a cruise, but DS 24 would really like to do a cruise again and a cruise vacation is the only vacation except for visiting family at their homes that my wonderful dad (82) likes to do.  Also DH is totally cool on doing a cruise.  All that said we let DS pick a cruise that we'll pay for, and we are doing RCCL Harmony of the Seas in February and my dad and god parents are coming along too.  We if cruising always like ocean view balcony, and I thought those seemed pretty pricey on the RCCL big ships for the dates we were looking at.  In the end, though, we decided to go with DS's first choice which wasn't all that out of line with other choices he was looking at, budgeted for the cruise, and are booked.

 

I'm thinking maybe this will be the last cruise I go on.  But I'm only 59, so probably not.  Even if something isn't my first choice, I mostly think of vacations as a really fun backdrop for spending time with my family, so it's pretty easy to talk me into things. 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

What seems clear is that one size doesn't fit all when it comes to:

 

Ship amenities

Port preferences

Dining preferences

Size of ship preferences

Cabin type preferences

 

Perhaps that's why there is such a wide range of ships in the fleet that offer a variety of that list of choices. If someone is looking for more upscale dining experiences...likely Celebrity or another cruise line would be an option. Otherwise...most of the other "personal preferences" can be satisfied in the existing fleet that RCI offers.

[Sobro]

On 10/5/2019 at 9:02 AM, mandersen12345 said:

...

 

 

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

[ryano]

On 10/5/2019 at 10:02 AM, mandersen12345 said:

The bottom line for me is that we spend a lot of money on cruises.  This past summer we were on Allure for a week in a 2BR aqua theatre.  We spent around $25k.  We were also on Serenade for a Baltic cruise and spent, including pricey shore excursions, over $35k.  

 

 

 

Likely not as "kid friendly" and they would probably be bored out of their mind but If Im gonna drop that kinda coin on a cruise, Im settling for nothing less than Regent Seven Seas or similar. I dont think Ive spent 25-30 grand cruising the last 10 years!  I dont have kids so not an issue to try and keep them happy.   I have seen so many cutbacks in just 10 years of cruising yet prices are at a all time high that its very frustrating for sure. My last cruise on a Royal ship was very mediocre, especially compared to three years earlier on the very same ship. I no longer feel I am getting what I am paying for when it comes to service and yes. especially food. That is MY "line in the sand".  I am not one to just settle for the old adage of "as long as I dont have to cook it or clean it up, just serve me anything!"   Once I use this future cruise credit next August, I will be looking elsewhere to spend my vacation dollars.  

 

For 25-35K I can guarantee you that you can get an all inclusive cruise on a luxury line for you and your family that will give you 5 star service, 5 star food and the "ass kissing" you are looking for  🙂  

Edited October 11, 2019 by ryano

[LeeRB]

On 9/26/2019 at 2:24 PM, rimmit said:

I am just curious what your line in the sand is/was?   What could RCI do to cause you to either never sail them again, switch lines all together, or at least try out other lines on a regular basis?  

 

For us it was the 7.95 room service charge.

 

Was it the loss of the chocolates on the pillows?  The loss of the shipshape program?  The Dynamic Dining debacle?   Loss of in cabin movies?   

 

Or if they haven’t crossed the line yet what would it take?  Charging for the fitness center?  Charging for the MDR?  Loss of flavored water in the buffets?  Complete removal of adults only rule in Solarium (it is only loosely enforced as it stands now).

It wasn’t Royal that did it, but it was none of these trivial annoyances mentioned either, but it would have the same result if I encounter it with Royal.

 

My line was crossed when a cruise line “IN MY SOLE DETERMINATION” either out and out lied to or intentionally misled their ‘guests’; then blamed us for not getting the ‘amazing new functionality that would change our cruising lives forever’ because we had selected a cabin that would not have the functionality active. That was after we had been told for almost a year that everyone would be using that great new functionality on our cruise.

 

Our notice that we had been had came in the form of a ‘form letter’ email 26 days before sailing, and well into the penalty window, from Princess and after the information had been released to the media. Then being told when I called the number provided in that email “all they could do for me was put my name on a list of people wanting a cabin with the new functionality, but there was no guarantee I would get one”. I declined their offer of nothing; then called my PVP and cancelled the two cruises I had booked with them. Luckily I could still cancel those cruises without penalty. Those cruises would have elevated me to the top level in their loyalty program. But if you no longer respect a companies name, that’s no big deal. That was in the fall of 2017 I have not booked or sailed with that line since, I am still 2 cruises from Elite and have no plans to book with them in the future and have not given them a positive recommendation since that cruise.

 

Since then I have booked 5 cruises with Royal, already completing 3 of the 5 and will be doing #4 of the end of this month and the 5th next February and going Diamond + with that cruise. Unfortunately after the cruise this month I will be ashore for a while. I have a medical issue to deal with starting after my upcoming cruise, but I plan to be at sea again by February 2020. I am not making any future bookings until I am sure my issue has been successfully dealt with. I have also not booked with Carnival since 2017; since Carnival Corp was involved with the fielding of this new functionality. I have sailed once on Carnival since the fall of 2017 and only because that cruise was going to a port that I have been trying to get to for over 10 years.

 

[ReneeFLL]

On 10/2/2019 at 2:54 PM, 2Long2NxtCrz said:

.................Attitude makes a huge difference.  We've traveled a lot, all of it land-based self-directed tours before my first fateful cruise.  Things happen, sometimes really bad things, like food poisoning that required an overnight stay in a hospital, but even that experience didn't alter our perception of Costa Rica or of our vacation.  In fact, it demonstrated what generous, caring, wonderful people they are and provided a story for the ages............

The attitude does make a big difference. Even if there are some things that you don't like having a good attitude can make a big difference. Things can go wrong and I see things on board that make me wonder what in the world are they thinking, but I don't let them bother me so it doesn't affect my cruise. 

 

Unfortunately there are many different things can can go wrong and the longer someone cruises the bigger chance of things happening. Sometimes things can be fixed and sometimes they can't be. Sometimes we can change things and sometimes we can't. Those are the times that a good laugh can make things funny.

[rimmit]

5 hours ago, LeeRB said:

It wasn’t Royal that did it, but it was none of these trivial annoyances mentioned either, but it would have the same result if I encounter it with Royal.

 

 

 

My line was crossed when a cruise line “IN MY SOLE DETERMINATION” either out and out lied to or intentionally misled their ‘guests’; then blamed us for not getting the ‘amazing new functionality that would change our cruising lives forever’ because we had selected a cabin that would not have the functionality active. That was after we had been told for almost a year that everyone would be using that great new functionality on our cruise.

 

 

 

Our notice that we had been had came in the form of a ‘form letter’ email 26 days before sailing, and well into the penalty window, from Princess and after the information had been released to the media. Then being told when I called the number provided in that email “all they could do for me was put my name on a list of people wanting a cabin with the new functionality, but there was no guarantee I would get one”. I declined their offer of nothing; then called my PVP and cancelled the two cruises I had booked with them. Luckily I could still cancel those cruises without penalty. Those cruises would have elevated me to the top level in their loyalty program. But if you no longer respect a companies name, that’s no big deal. That was in the fall of 2017 I have not booked or sailed with that line since, I am still 2 cruises from Elite and have no plans to book with them in the future and have not given them a positive recommendation since that cruise.

 

 

 

Since then I have booked 5 cruises with Royal, already completing 3 of the 5 and will be doing #4 of the end of this month and the 5th next February and going Diamond + with that cruise. Unfortunately after the cruise this month I will be ashore for a while. I have a medical issue to deal with starting after my upcoming cruise, but I plan to be at sea again by February 2020. I am not making any future bookings until I am sure my issue has been successfully dealt with. I have also not booked with Carnival since 2017; since Carnival Corp was involved with the fielding of this new functionality. I have sailed once on Carnival since the fall of 2017 and only because that cruise was going to a port that I have been trying to get to for over 10 years.

 

 

 

What was this functionality?  I do not keep up with Princess ships.

[Judyrem]

On 9/27/2019 at 9:43 AM, shellunderwater said:

For us, the line is some fuzzy feeling about value.  We value relaxation, service, reasonable prices, relatively courteous fellow passengers and value for the money.  Like I said, fuzzy.  We've had some bad experiences, but none were consecutive, so we decided those were the exception.

 

But, all that said, we are evaluating a land vacation given the prices for the cruise style we enjoy.  Prices are up, drink packages are often very expensive and we've done the ports.  None of that is a line in the sand, but a fuzzy place that we ponder every time we travel.

Agree.  I was going to take my grandaughter on an Oasis class ship next summer, but a balcony cabin was over 4000$. yikes!

I am taking her for a week in San Diego instead, much cheaper with so much to do!

[Judyrem]

On 9/30/2019 at 8:57 AM, John&LaLa said:

 

The 8 night Adventure in December does all 3 with 4 sea days out of Ft Lauderdale

I am doing that itinerary in Feb on Adventure!

[kathy884]

1 hour ago, Judyrem said:

Agree.  I was going to take my grandaughter on an Oasis class ship next summer, but a balcony cabin was over 4000$. yikes!

I am taking her for a week in San Diego instead, much cheaper with so much to do!

 

This is sort of how I feel about cruising.  I think the cruise I'm doing this February on the Harmony will be the last cruise I ever do.  We have one of those extra large balcony cabins (the ones midship that stick out a bit) for my dad 82 and son who is 24 for about $3400.  DH and I are next door in one that is about $3100 (regular sized balcony next to the large one).  The excursions non ship we are doing are actually fairly inexpensive, we aren't doing any specialty dining, and no one has more than one or two drinks a day ever (most won't have any alcoholic drinks), so no expensive drink packages.  But there are some other extra costs of cruising too (insurance non-ship with good medical evac and medical coverages, etc., for DS 24 (high speed internet for the week),  and hotel and related expenses pre-cruise.  Sure, we'll do the shows and enjoy those, but we have season tickets to our rep theatre at home, go to broadways shows that come to our home town that we want to see,  so we aren't starved for theatre.  We'll enjoy the shows, but aren't necessarily looking for that, but it is something to do on the boat.   All in all doing the ocean view balcony cabins that we all want (really don't want to cruise without private space viewing the ocean - that is one of the appealing things for us of doing a cruise for us) and going on a ship with lots of activity like a big RCCL one that appeals to DS will price wise come very close to my entire vacation budget for the year.  There are quite a few other US based land based vacations where I can do a full week nice vacation and another mini five night four day vacation for the same money.  We go to the western US a lot (We love the mountains).

 

Interestingly enough, though, one year we decided to do a vacation to Key West (flying right down there and fairly high season, first week of March).  When I added everything up, price wise it was almost exactly the same cost as a cruise vacation we had done the previous year (big newer NCL ship) around the same time and a shorter trip than the cruise too, just a five night stay.  Also, an eastern US leaf peeping tour thru Cosmos that appeals to DH that we might do in 2021 cost wise when I add up everything comes out to almost exactly the same cost as the RCCL cruise we are doing next February (almost right on the money cost wise - same length of trip too).  So for us it's really what frivolous fun thing we want to do with our vacation dollars (a fun proposition for sure). 

 

(A trip to Paris/Belfast we are doing that is outside of our vacation budget (bucket list European travel) just for three people vs. four is going to cost us about 3K more than a RCCL big ship cruise for four.  That's more of a once in a lifetime trip for us, though, as we usually stay closer to home.  I also spent extra for premium economy seats for the long haul flights adding to cost to make the long flights a little more pleasant perhaps.  Still there is no question that a high season (late spring trip to two cities in Europe (eight nights) is for how we want to do it pricier than doing a nice Caribbean cruise high season winter - also eight nights with pre cruise overnight stay).  Still doing a cruise that really appeals to us at a time that appeals to us (nice to get out of the cold) is not an inexpensive proposition in our book.  It seems like a reasonable value with all that is included, but is still expensive and usually for our family land based trips win.

 

The one really cool thing about a cruise though for me is that it is the one vacation besides a house or condo rental for a week that my dad who is 82 will do, and having him along is great.  And DS 24 interestingly enough loves cruising (This is who has always talked us into doing one).  For me and DH a cruise is more meh -- in the end though for both of us sure why not (we'll come along for the ride on occasion).                                                 

Edited October 12, 2019 by kathy884

[Joebucks]

On 10/5/2019 at 10:38 AM, The Fun Researcher said:

 

 I hope you find a cruise line that will kiss your *ss enough.  

 

Dan

 

To each their own I suppose. I tend to find that those looking for cruise lines to pamper the hell out of them, tend to be the ones who are always the most disappointed. Sure I like a certain level of relaxation and service. However, I don't expect the employees to be impressed by me and worship the ground I walk on. Let's be real. That is not vacation to me. Vacation is having fun. Vacation is disconnecting from work. Vacation is about friends and family.

 

Too many people try to find their fun in spending money. "It must be a better vacation if I spend $10k on it. I'm going to splurge." Then they find that all of the nonsense you buy doesn't add that much substance. I took some amazing vacations this year, and never paid more than $1000 for myself. The enjoyment was because I decided to have fun.

[Hoopster95]

On 10/5/2019 at 7:02 AM, mandersen12345 said:

The bottom line for me is that we spend a lot of money on cruises.  This past summer we were on Allure for a week in a 2BR aqua theatre.  We spent around $25k.  We were also on Serenade for a Baltic cruise and spent, including pricey shore excursions, over $35k....

Maybe I'm wrong and other people spent tons more onboard and we should just shut up and be happy.  But I don't think so.  You should get what you pay for in life and Royal has not, in our opinion, delivered to us an experience commensurate with dollars spent.

 

On 10/5/2019 at 8:05 AM, The Fun Researcher said:

I don’t know, but by your comments I think you are setting yourself up for disappointment with any main stream cruise line. (Including NCL).

 

On 10/5/2019 at 8:13 AM, mandersen12345 said:

Thanks.  We had previously thought a mass market line, with a solid kids program, but in suites would suit us.  Now that the kids are older and the kids programs don't matter we've kind of agreed with your line of thinking.

 

Very thoughtful and respectful posts. As a non-suite dweller and very loyal to Royal cruiser, I wish to offer my take on this... I am still very much loyal to Royal, especially when cruising solo, however I was extremely ignorant to how good a so-called luxury line was until I tried Oceania a year ago. Outstanding. And then I calculated the per diem to a Royal GS when including all free amenities on Oceania compared to Royal... I was floored. So in my humble opinion, if you regularly sail in suites or want a special cruise vacation, I believe the value for that kind of travel is miles better on a higher end cruise line than Royal, NCL,Princess, etc

 

However I would not consider solo or a "less expensive" get-away on Oceania... I'll be back on Royal every time with the entertainment, amenities, and superb loyalty program (I'm very cognizant and grateful for these amenities), etc RCL provides.

 

 

On 10/5/2019 at 12:50 PM, kathy884 said:

Personally I prefer land based vacations to doing a cruise, but DS 24 would really like to do a cruise again

 

Royal can't sail into the Sahara Desert, so we're booked on a 4-star escorted tour Morocco 14 days in December. So 2 weeks all-in, escorted tour with all breakfasts, 7-8 dinners, one-night safari on camel and sleeping in tents in the Sahara, all transportation, days with tours and days on our own, 1st class (lie flat pods) return airfare  Vancouver/Casablanca... 

all-in costs approx $12,000 Canadian or a little over $9000 US. 

 

[LeeRB]

5 hours ago, rimmit said:

 

What was this functionality?  I do not keep up with Princess ships.

 

It is a Medallion (wearable) and Sensor system that is replacing Princess’ version of the Sea Pass cards we use for everything on RCI.

 

The Medallions have little chips in them that have a unique code number which sensors (supposedly over 7,000 on the Regal Princess) installed all over their ships that can read. They will do everything the cards can do plus; from unlocking your cabin door as you approach, letting you make purchases in the shops and bars, even lets you order a drink from your sun lounger using your smart phone or one from the ship (for fee ?) or on your way to the theater and have it delivered to your sun lounger or theater seat when you get there. According to some of the hype they were pushing at the time, it can also quickly locate lost children or people with memory/navigation issues on the ship. Those last couple thing, while being useful in those specific cases, also lends itself to being abused and kind of strikes me as being a little too Big Brotherish, but I was wanting to check it out before I made a decision about continuing to sail Princess or any cruise line in the Carnival family. If they can find someone lost on the ship or deliver a drink to a specific seat; they have the capability of tracking people on their ships. The ‘Medallions’ are a Carnival Corporation idea and are supposed to be implemented across all of their cruise lines eventually.

 

A few people were able to get a deal from Princess like moving to other ships, but I think that had more to do with Princess changing the sailing time several times with the last change being 8 days before sailing changing it from 9 PM to 5:30 PM and impacting many people flying in that day for the cruise. One person that was in our Roll Call actually had booked a ‘Medallion Class’ cabin; most of those cabins appear to have been filled with bigshots from all of the Carnival family of cruise lines and the Corporation itself; others like my myself just got shafted, granted it was only a 2 night cruise to Nassau and back but not even an offer of a little OBC.

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, kathy884 said:

We have one of those extra large balcony cabins (the ones midship that stick out a bit) for my dad 82 and son who is 24 for about $3400.  DH and I are next door in one that is about $3100 (regular sized balcony next to the large one).

With the right timing, two regular balconies and a different O class you can have the same vacation for about 1/2-2/3 the cost. 

[csnarpy]

8 hours ago, Judyrem said:

Agree.  I was going to take my grandaughter on an Oasis class ship next summer, but a balcony cabin was over 4000$. yikes!

I am taking her for a week in San Diego instead, much cheaper with so much to do!

 

I'm kindof shocked by this comment, as my family are sailing at the end of November with adjoining OV Balcony cabins for almost $4800 CDN.  Now that includes about $400 off due to Diamond status but at $5200 CDN for 2 cabins is not nearly close to what you are quoting.

 

So i'm not sure where you were trying to book but that is not standard imo.

Edited October 12, 2019 by csnarpy

[Another_Critic]

11 minutes ago, csnarpy said:

 

I'm kindof shocked by this comment, as my family are sailing at the end of November with adjoining OV Balcony cabins for almost $4800 CDN.  Now that includes about $400 off due to Diamond status but at $5200 CDN for 2 cabins is not nearly close to what you are quoting.

 

So i'm not sure where you were trying to book but that is not standard imo.

 

November is low season = cheaper fares.

 

Price the same cruise / cabins in high season (summer) and you will be shocked.

Edited October 12, 2019 by Another_Critic

[Judyrem]

 

 

11 minutes ago, csnarpy said:

 

I'm kindof shocked by this comment, as my family are sailing at the end of November with adjoining OV Balcony cabins for almost $4800 CDN.  Now that includes about $400 off due to Diamond status but at $5200 CDN for 2 cabins is not nearly close to what you are quoting.

 

So i'm not sure where you were trying to book but that is not standard imo.

It was Harmony of the Seas IN JULY!  I paid almost 3200$ this past July and next July is worse. 

Look it up.

 

Is is what it is. 

[Judyrem]

21 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

 

November is low season = cheaper fares.

 

Price the same cruise / cabins in high season (summer) and you will be shocked.

It's the nature of the beast, supply and demand!

 

I went in a GS suite Aug 22 for 2600$!  

[Iamcruzin]

On 10/5/2019 at 10:02 AM, mandersen12345 said:

 

  We feel we pay a premium when on Royal but get hardly any better an experience than people who pay bottom dollar for an inside cabin.  I'm not trying to come across snobbish.  It's about not receiving an experience commensurate with dollars spent as why we're done with Royal Caribbean.

 

 

I always wonder about the experience of those who book the high end accommodations. To me cruising is for those of us who are on a budget and looking for a nice vacation that won’t break the bank. Cruising used to go above and beyond even for those booked in the worst interior room. If I could afford a $25,000 vacation rest assured it wouldn’t be on a mass market cruise line. I also don’t believe that my experience in a free lounge chair is much different from someone who rents a cabana for $1299 on Coco Cay.