What’s with the negativity?

[Georgeny]

21 minutes ago, TNTLAMB said:

But their net margins have decreased despite an increase in sales.

 

This should really be discussed in a posting dedicated to it. The economy of size, upcoming note debt, is highly involved. I agree that cruise pricing is eroding if that is your point necessitating increases to onboard revenue. Reduction of staff, maintenance, and replacement costs. NCL is run by what is basically a hedge fund, the rest by corporate entity, both require investor profit. Investor profit doesn't necessarily require happiness or safety for the end user. As very well demonstrated by airline industry.

 

George in NY

[USCcruisecrazy]

Pretty confident in saying dollar for dollar, compared to every other land based vacation we take, Cruising is still the best bang for your buck!  You won't hear any complaining form me...especially on 7 December when we launch aboard the Sky for the western Caribbean!  :)

[Ombud]

3 hours ago, tk2fast said:

I noticed that some have defended the cruise lines for cutting back but lets keep this in perspective. 

 

It's not that the cruise lines are loosing money; it's totally about greed. They take away or change "things" that they really don't have to, not because they are trying to stay profitable, but to increase profit. It's never enough and it's called greed.

Carnival Corporation owns nine cruise lines including Princess. In 2018 Carnival Corporation made 3.2 billion in PROFIT!

 

And yes, they are just like any other large Corporation nowadays.

Absolutely!! And as as shareholder that gets back extra tax free OBC + taxable dividends while increasing the value of my investment, why wouldn't I want that?

 

If you can find a cheaper more relaxing vacation, jump ship 🤑

 

Frankly, my dollars go further on a cruise ship then any other way to vacation so I'll keeping booking, kicking back, and enjoying my time onboard 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Ombud

[MishelleMcc]

On 11/3/2019 at 8:18 PM, Fincherson said:

We just booked out first Princess Cruise (Sun Princess) after having previously sailed only Carnival and NCL. I was excited to get on Cruise Critic and join in on the fun/discussion on a new board, only to find it’s mainly negativity, rudeness and complaining. Am I missing something? Does Princess suck or are people generally more persnickety? Maybe I’m just reading the wrong threads? I’m kind of afraid to post this but I really want to know if I made a mistake giving Princess a try. Is it as mediocre as these posts make it sound?

 

As with all the CC cruise line threads, there are some negative Nellie's...  You must have just happened upon a couple of particularly snarky ones (as I have) 

 

One time, I ended a comment (Costa Cruise line, I think) with a:  "...No bad days cruising!"  And someone ripped me for such a "irresponsible" comment and that indeed, there are bad days cruising.  I get his point, of course, but really?  I was being light hearted and optimistic!!  I consider myself lucky to even be able to cruise!

 

So my advise is to keep reading the topics and you will get a "feel" for which contributors are genuine and ignore the haters. 

 

and...  No bad days cruising!  Ha! 

 

[tk2fast]

25 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Absolutely!! And as as shareholder that gets back extra tax free OBC + taxable dividends while increasing the value of my investment, why wouldn't I want that?

 

If you can find a cheaper more relaxing vacation, jump ship 🤑

 

Frankly, my dollars go further on a cruise ship then any other way to vacation so I'll keeping booking, kicking back, and enjoying my time onboard 

Hello Ombud, My comments on Carnival Corporate were just to high-lite the fact they are making a good profit.

 

I agree with both your points. That profit is good for shareholders and cruise dollars go further when compared to other options. That's why we are booked on Sky next year.

 

[Ombud]

1 minute ago, tk2fast said:

Hello Ombud, My comments on Carnival Corporate were just to high-lite the fact they are making a good profit.

 

I agree with both your points. That profit is good for shareholders and cruise dollars go further when compared to other options. That's why we are booked on Sky next year.

Then why the negativity? I'm confused 😶

[tk2fast]

1 minute ago, Ombud said:

Then why the negativity? I'm confused 😶

 

It was not my intention to come off negative but obviously I completely failed. After reading comments that seemed to be justifying the cutbacks I wanted to say that Carnival was doing very well.

 

That's all. Guess I need to refrain from early morning posts and wait till I had a few cups of coffee.

[USCcruisecrazy]

 

Then why the negativity? I'm confused 😶

Yeah, I'm with you...confused then about the negativity! 

Personally, I have a hard time finding anything negative about any cruise I've ever taken!  :)

[Daniel A]

47 minutes ago, MishelleMcc said:

 

As with all the CC cruise line threads, there are some negative Nellie's...  You must have just happened upon a couple of particularly snarky ones (as I have) 

 

One time, I ended a comment (Costa Cruise line, I think) with a:  "...No bad days cruising!"  And someone ripped me for such a "irresponsible" comment and that indeed, there are bad days cruising.  I get his point, of course, but really?  I was being light hearted and optimistic!!  I consider myself lucky to even be able to cruise!

 

So my advise is to keep reading the topics and you will get a "feel" for which contributors are genuine and ignore the haters. 

 

and...  No bad days cruising!  Ha! 

 

To adapt an old adage, "A bad day of cruising is better than a good day at work..."

[Ombud]

10 minutes ago, tk2fast said:

Guess I need to refrain from early morning posts and wait till I had a few cups of coffee.

Me too! Enjoy Sky & Captain Michele Tuvo! (13 days until I fly out. I need a vacay)

[MishelleMcc]

3 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

To adapt an old adage, "A bad day of cruising is better than a good day at work..."

EXACTLY!!!!  Thank you!!!!

 

[tk2fast]

2 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Me too! Enjoy Sky & Captain Michele Tuvo! (13 days until I fly out. I need a vacay)

Thanks,

Wow... 13 days!  We have 5 months to go and are so looking forward to a break. 

 

Have a great cruise! 

[TNTLAMB]

re sears: Unhappy customers or were they not relevant to customers? What if PC or for that matter any cruise line clung to "the way it was" back in the day and price accordingly, would they still be around? There is a reason for ziplines, surfriders, les formal formal nights, anytime dining etc etc. and that has to do with SALES. Its not what good, its what sells. If it was what is good, we would still have betamax. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by TNTLAMB

[voljeep]

anytime dining was the breakthrough ... at least for me ...

[Ombud]

I tried anytime for the 1st time on a Fort Lauderdale to Quebec cruise and LOVED IT!!

[mamkmm2]

5 hours ago, TNTLAMB said:

But their net margins have decreased despite an increase in sales. The price of a cruise has decreased as well significantly in response to consumer demand. It's all rather amusing when you think about it. A basic cabin for a seven day cruise on  the grand is actually 25% cheaper today than it was for our first cruise on her in 1998. Seems kinda foolish to complain about cutbacks when passengers on the whole are the ones who have demanded them. It's time to realize a cruise is a cheap all inclusive vacation. Even a Red Roof Inn has better rooms..... We want the cheapest thing we can get, then get it, and inexplicably complain that its cheap. For those who want better, its available, at a cost, and then the whiners complain about nickle and diming.

 Good, salient points for sure.  The other thing to remember is a lot of each year's profit has to go into reserves for bills that will come around.  Building of new ships.  Replacement equipment.  Perks paid for by the cruise line that is expected by passengers such as OBC.  Loss leader activities aboard ship.  Repairs and maintenance for ships.  Drydock when not only do they have R&M but the ship is offline and not bringing in income.  The dreaded refunds for cancelled activities.  Yada, yada.

 

From a business standpoint a profit looks grand (and necessary to investors) but at the same time it rarely tells the entire story and the profit isn't just dropped into a bank account in the form of liquidity but gets paid out in dividends to investors, etc.

 

While I agree that prices for some items are craaaazy, you can get around that by doing things like taking advantage of clearance sales in the form of last minute deals from the big box TA companies as well as putting pressure on the cruise lines to keep the cost of excursions down by utilizing private excursion companies as much as possible.  Capitalism at its finest.

[mamkmm2]

5 hours ago, Georgeny said:

 

This should really be discussed in a posting dedicated to it. The economy of size, upcoming note debt, is highly involved. I agree that cruise pricing is eroding if that is your point necessitating increases to onboard revenue. Reduction of staff, maintenance, and replacement costs. NCL is run by what is basically a hedge fund, the rest by corporate entity, both require investor profit. Investor profit doesn't necessarily require happiness or safety for the end user. As very well demonstrated by airline industry.

 

George in NY

One of the best, short explanations that I have seen on the topic.

[PaperSniper4]

On 11/4/2019 at 6:12 PM, Vic The Parrot said:

.....

 

Musicians in the Piazza and the sound level of MUTS are beyond deafening.  

 

...

 

I agree, but find the volume in land-based theaters are also too loud. And I'm an old guy and my wife says I'm going deaf! I have learned to always take a pair of foam ear-plugs to those events. Works great!😎

[kruisey]

I remember the good old days when the food in main dining room was nicely presented ad good quality.

Spend my evenings now in Crown Grill were the food is good and nicely presented worth every cent of the $29 covercharge.

[jennybenny]

10 minutes ago, kruisey said:

I remember the good old days when the food in main dining room was nicely presented ad good quality.

Spend my evenings now in Crown Grill were the food is good and nicely presented worth every cent of the $29 covercharge.

We do a lot of specialty dining as well.  We still do MDR a few nights, but at least 4 nights are spent in specialty dining for our family. 

[Ombud]

On 11/3/2019 at 7:18 PM, Fincherson said:

We just booked out first Princess Cruise (Sun Princess) 

Please let us know how it goes. Sun is a slightly older, smaller ship that goes to less frequented itineraries and I'm wondering about trying them. The new ships are more mega-resort like IMHO and I prefer the 2000-2600 capacity ships

[Fmitchy]

On 11/6/2019 at 9:15 AM, USCcruisecrazy said:

Pretty confident in saying dollar for dollar, compared to every other land based vacation we take, Cruising is still the best bang for your buck!  You won't hear any complaining form me...especially on 7 December when we launch aboard the Sky for the western Caribbean!  :)

   Mitch From Chicago right behind you on the Sky Jan 18 , Robin and I are coming over from Celebrity to just try something new?  We figure how can you go wrong on a Brand New Cruise ship that has to be beautiful, fresh and relaxing . The Vacation is meant for people to  just get away and enjoy the weather, Food, Shows, Meeting people that are relaxing as well. Reading all the negative post are from people who just like to complain about the little stupid things.  Like the food that is included in the curise is basically better then my daily diet ( Brown Bag Lunch , Quick Breakfast, Same Dinner Choices ) and to have access to so much to eat -Anytime , Casinos , Pool Side Drinks/Music/ Shows/ Spa/ and basicly you can always find something to do and its mindless ( No Driving, Buses, Flying, Traffic , Walking the Dogs, Ect )  You Cant beat a Cruise for Overall Vacation Value.  I will see you on the Beach or by the Pools or at the BlackJack table.  

[MissP22]

20 hours ago, kruisey said:

I remember the good old days when the food in main dining room was nicely presented ad good quality.

Spend my evenings now in Crown Grill were the food is good and nicely presented worth every cent of the $29 covercharge.

Don't forget about the cost of the meal you missed in the DR. 

[kruisey]

4 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Don't forget about the cost of the meal you missed in the DR. 

Better for me to enjoy food I love then leave a table with an empty tummy.We are all different. Rather  pay more and enjoy.I love Crown Grill food it is so yummy🥰.

[MissP22]

5 minutes ago, kruisey said:

Better for me to enjoy food I love then leave a table with an empty tummy.We are all different. Rather  pay more and enjoy.I love Crown Grill food it is so yummy🥰.

I've never left the table hungry on any Princess ship. DR or Specialty restaurant.