Carnival increasing gratuity rates and prices of onboard services

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

I guess being a stock owner, I could take $100 off for that price for a seven day cruise.

And 10% by using gift cards from AARP or Allstate.

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, cruizergal70 said:

Exactly.  Folks will find the cheapest cabin, cut all types of expenses and then...pay $1k just to drink? Crazy thing is that most people wouldn't come close to that amount even when buying individual drinks. 

You want to stay in a balcony cabin or go on an excursion in every port, that's your choice.  Just like it's my choice to cruise on the newest ships in various fleets.  Currently have 7 reservations on Excel Class ships and after having cruised the Caribbean 35 times, the ship is my destination.  I'll be in an inside cabin on the Mardi Gras two more times and another five on the Celebration.  Before the end of the month, I'll pay for Cheers for all seven sailings.  I will get my monies worth easily. 

You can vacation however you'd like and so can I, just refrain from making assumptions that don't hold true with everyone.

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, Matco said:

RCL charges $60-$70 per person per day, although theirs is truly unlimited, sometimes you could buy it on sale for $50ish a day. I'm sure they will be raising those prices soon too 

They don't have to because of their dynamic pricing policy.  They start with a fictional number of say 88-92 per day and then have a "sale" by discounting it by 25 or 30%. Even at 88 and 30%, after adding the 20% gratuity, you're paying over 73 per day.  RCI is nothing but smoke and mirrors when it comes to their drink packages and excursions.

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, ryanpatricksmom said:

  I can't remember ever having the option of applying OBC to a prepaid purchase before...

New policy that went into effect on March 15

[Joe817]

3 hours ago, captainmayi said:

We added prepaid gratuities to our cruise when we booked it. So do we have to pay our cruise off before May 1st to get the lower price? Not that the $4.00 matter 😄 Just curious

No. The way I read it is, any booking made prior to May 1, gets the price in existence at the time you made the booking. ie: the lower price. 

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, Thenagers said:

  It used to be cheaper but with RCL "sales" you can actually now get it cheaper than Carnival. 

BULL. I currently have 3 cruises booked over the next year on Royal.  Two on the Oasis in June and one on the Freedom in November.  In all 3 instances, even with the current 30% discount, it's 61 per day plus 20 percent gratuity.  With Carnival,  Cheers is the same price no matter when you cruise or which ship you cruise on.  With RCI the prices fluctuate depending upon the ship and time of year.  

If you think RCI is cheaper, maybe it is on the oldest ship in their fleet sailing the first week of December, usually the cheapest week to cruise.  But in general, Cheers is a better value because it's cheaper for many more instances than the drink package on Royal is.

[tuxieloaf]

7 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

Not sure if being sarcastic or serious. The drink package is still reasonable versus other lines and if you enjoy drinking on your vacation, it's still a good deal as you break even at six drinks. Which I can do before noon frankly.

We are not big drinkers, and it is only worth it for us to buy unlimited alcohol for Carnival. For the other lines, we just stick to a soda or mocktail plan and pay for alcohol out of pocket. I'm not too upset about them raising the price of Cheers because it is still much lower than other lines, but I do wish they had a mocktail/latte plan or at least change Pepsi (biggest drawback about Carnival honestly) for Coke.

[tuxieloaf]

25 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

They don't have to because of their dynamic pricing policy.  They start with a fictional number of say 88-92 per day and then have a "sale" by discounting it by 25 or 30%. Even at 88 and 30%, after adding the 20% gratuity, you're paying over 73 per day.  RCI is nothing but smoke and mirrors when it comes to their drink packages and excursions.

Lately their 'discounts' have been less and less generous. Some suspect they are raising the drink prices without announcing a raise by making the sales less generous.

[SNJCruisers]

9 minutes ago, tuxieloaf said:

Lately their 'discounts' have been less and less generous. Some suspect they are raising the drink prices without announcing a raise by making the sales less generous.

Could not agree more.  I have had the drink package on every cruise I have taken over the last ten years.  Included on Celebrity, NCL and MSC as a package or purchased separately on Carnival and RCI.  Currently have 3 cruises booked on RCI within the next year and they want so much for the drinks package I'll be relegated to the refreshment package as an alternative.

[Joebucks]

15 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

I guess being a stock owner, I could take $100 off for that price for a seven day cruise.

8 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

And 10% by using gift cards from AARP or Allstate.

 

I am also a stock holder. Neither of these things are exclusive to Cheers. I could also use them to pay for almost all of my 1 liter bottle of whiskey, that would cover about 3/4 of my drinks for the whole trip. 

 

9 hours ago, WKUTopperFan said:

Cucina isn't Cucina on Mardi Gras. I just sailed on Mardi Gras last week and was horrified by the Cucina experience.  I dine in Cucina 2 to 3 times on an 8 night itinerary on a Vista Class ship... it's my favorite restaurant at Sea. I only eat in specialty restaurants and was mortified my first night on board the Mardi Gras dining at their version of Cucina. The menu different than the other ship Cucina menu's. The food is not cooked to order. It was a travesty.  It's complimentary because it's an extension of the dining room... it is no specialty restaurant.  Terrible idea. 

 

I haven't had Cucina (dinner) yet on any ship. So I will take your word that it is different. As far as it being a terrible idea, that is yet to be seen. For years, people have cried for more included, sit-down, dinner options. Carnival has finally decided to test just that. I don't believe Cucina was necessarily packed before either.

 

If I was Carnival, I would probably be eye-balling how to increase fares through perception of "more for free". Charge people $15 for Cucina and "that's too much" "nickle and diming me!" Charge $50 more for the cruise, and "it's all freeeeeeeeeeeee!"

[SNJCruisers]

13 hours ago, WKUTopperFan said:

Cucina isn't Cucina on Mardi Gras. I just sailed on Mardi Gras last week and was horrified by the Cucina experience.  I dine in Cucina 2 to 3 times on an 8 night itinerary on a Vista Class ship... it's my favorite restaurant at Sea. I only eat in specialty restaurants and was mortified my first night on board the Mardi Gras dining at their version of Cucina. The menu different than the other ship Cucina menu's. The food is not cooked to order. It was a travesty.  It's complimentary because it's an extension of the dining room... it is no specialty restaurant.  Terrible idea. 

Have to agree with you.  I thoroughly enjoyed Cucina on our Horizon cruises in 2018 and 2019.  The tomahawk pork chop and fingerling potatoes were fantastic.  On the MG, the menu as you said had changed.  The only items that were close quality wise on both ships were the arancini balls and Nona's meatball.  But, the omission of the first two items was a travesty.  Luckily we did not have to pay 30.00 for the experience.

[1kaper]

11 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

You want to stay in a balcony cabin or go on an excursion in every port, that's your choice.  Just like it's my choice to cruise on the newest ships in various fleets.  Currently have 7 reservations on Excel Class ships and after having cruised the Caribbean 35 times, the ship is my destination.  I'll be in an inside cabin on the Mardi Gras two more times and another five on the Celebration.  Before the end of the month, I'll pay for Cheers for all seven sailings.  I will get my monies worth easily. 

You can vacation however you'd like and so can I, just refrain from making assumptions that don't hold true with everyone.

All of this. 

I enjoy a drink on the deck in the sunshine and breeze while reading my book.  I like my morning mimosas.  That is part of the vacation experience for me. 

 

My husband had drinks on us at the casino and we still chose to buy the drink package even though we could have saved some money that way.  I want to relax.  I want to order what I want when I want.  I want to order top shelf.  I want to try more expensive drinks.  

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by 1kaper

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

30 minutes ago, 1kaper said:

All of this. 

I enjoy a drink on the deck in the sunshine and breeze while reading my book.  I like my morning mimosas.  That is part of the vacation experience for me. 

 

My husband had drinks on us at the casino and we still chose to buy the drink package even though we could have saved some money that way.  I want to relax.  I want to order what I want when I want.  I want to order top shelf.  I want to try more expensive drinks.  

 

 

Yep - nothing worse than being in vacation mode and having to pass on something because it might cost a few $'s more. There's a time to splurge (or just live a little) and there's a time to save --- for that future splurge !

 

Tom

[cairncrazy]

On 4/4/2022 at 4:19 PM, Aplmac said:

Sooner or later everything is going to go UP.

 

It's unavoidable,

and it'll get passed on to the ultimate consumer.
Me and You.

 

No need to sweat this, it's unavoidable. It's coming.

Carnival’s onboard costs will increase 10 – 17%

The email from Carnival only listed the new prices of the daily gratuities, but it indicated that wifi, drink packages, and dining packages will also go up. John Heald, Carnival Brand Ambassador, provided some additional information to Carnival fans on his Facebook page. 

Purchase	Previous Cost	New Cost	Price Increase
Cheers Drink Package (pre-purchase price)	$51.95 per day	$59.95 per day	13%
Cheers Drink Package (onboard price)	$56.95 per day	$64.95 per day	12%
Bottomless Bubbles Soda Package	$8.50 per day (adults) $5.95 per day (kids)	$9.50 per day (adults) $6.95 per day (kids)	11%
Cucina del Capitano	$15 adults / $5 kids	$18 adults / $6 kids	17%
JiJi’s Asian Kitchen	$15 adults / $5 kids	$18 adults / $6 kids	17%
Bonsai Teppanyaki	$32 (all guests)	$35 (all guests)	9%
Rudi’s Seagrill	$38 adults / $12 kids	$42 adults / $13 kids	11%
Steakhouse / Fahrenheit 555	$38 adults / $12 kids	$42 adults / $13 kids	10%
Daily Gratuities	$13.99 per day	$14.50 per day	4%
Wifi / Internet Package (pre-purchase price)	Social: $6.80 per day Value: $10.20 per day Premium: $13.60 per day	Social: $8.50 per day Value: $11.05 per day Premium: $13.60 per day	11%

[ChrisCJR]

Will happily pay more in gratuities to the hard working crew.  Fifty cents a day more is nothing to make a fuss over.

 

The rest of the stuff, it's simple, you don't have to have it.  Carnival's biggest on board competition is itself.  For wifi, I'd say it's islands since I get service at pretty much any island, or sometimes when I'm near an island.  

 

It's kind of like Netflix in a way.  You can increase the price $1, but if someone drops the idea of purchasing, you could lose $12 you would have had with no increase.  It's a risk to increase, for that reason.  On Carnival, they probably feel confident that people will pay more rather than decide not to buy at all.  I'm sure they did their research, they have to, you'd think. 

 

For me - I don't usually eat at specialty restaurants anyway.  Tried one out (Pig and Anchor) and found it to be just OK for the added cost, so I'll be more picky in the future.  I can see why some people like them, and if they find the value, good for them.  Options are great, even if you ultimately opt not to take them up.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

It's unfortunate that Carnival doesn't just up the pay for these (admittedly) hard working crew, and just pass it along to us in the cruise fare because, in the end, it's out of our pocket one way or another. And, what about all their crew who are not tipped - is Carnival going to do the right thing and give them a pay hike too?  (again - that's also on our dime!)

 

Tom

[AtSeaWithChris]

On 4/4/2022 at 6:43 PM, bucfan2 said:

What's the big deal lol??  Only a 20% and 40% increase, respectively.  Stay tuned for more of the same....we'll get what we asked for in time.

Yeah, I didn't change the number of times I ordered them but I did notice it. I hadn't heard anyone bring it up anywhere about increases. However I was ordering it to be brought to me at places like the Piano bar  and I didn't have to go anywhere to get it so it was worth it to me.

[Eli_6]

Don't count on the stockholder credit. For the past two cruises (and 3 bookings) I have been on, I have applied for the stock holder credit and been denied.  This was on a total of three rooms/bookings as we have 200 stocks so husband can get one on his room with a child and I can get one on my room with a child.  One of these cruises was a casino deal where all we paid was taxes and port fees...so I get that one. But the other two were just on regular old VIFP rates where we paid about 1300 for an OV room. And, yet, still we were denied saying we we are "discount" rates. Basically, they are calling anything other than the full price a discount rate.  I will still continue to apply because I know some people who have been approved even on discount rates, but it seems to be random.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

1 minute ago, Eli_6 said:

Don't count on the stockholder credit. For the past two cruises (and 3 bookings) I have been on, I have applied for the stock holder credit and been denied.  This was on a total of three rooms/bookings as we have 200 stocks so husband can get one on his room with a child and I can get one on my room with a child.  One of these cruises was a casino deal where all we paid was taxes and port fees...so I get that one. But the other two were just on regular old VIFP rates where we paid about 1300 for an OV room. And, yet, still we were denied saying we we are "discount" rates. Basically, they are calling anything other than the full price a discount rate.  I will still continue to apply because I know some people who have been approved even on discount rates, but it seems to be random.

 

Interesting. The last two (March) sailings we had on the Liberty were promo deals ($65 pp for the balcony with the old "free drinks while playing in the casino" kicker) and we managed to get the $50 OBC on both of those short sailings. I just submitted for our May and Sept sailings a few days ago - now I'm wondering what their reply might be!

 

Darn - this used to be a slam dunk.

 

Tom

[Eli_6]

On 4/5/2022 at 10:25 AM, ray985 said:

There's a summary here: https://cruisespotlight.com/carnival-increasing-onboard-prices-starting-may-1/

So strange. This shows it as $13 something but I just tried to pre-buy for our Alaska (and I did pre-buy for our Europe) and the premium was $14.45 per day. I looked at our Mexican Riviera and it was also $14.45.  It was over $130 for the Europe 9 day sailing which I thought was absurd considering how poor the internet is.  We have to have it, though, because of my husband's job.  

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

10 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

...

 

Looks like we'll be crossing paths on the 2/26/23 Prima -- not sure if I mentioned that previously or not. I see you manage a lot of B2B's. We're finally going to enjoy one on the Reflection later this year (I'm not counting the 3+4-day B2B we took over a decade ago!).

 

Tom

[Lee Cruiser]

4 hours ago, cairncrazy said:

Carnival’s onboard costs will increase 10 – 17%

The email from Carnival only listed the new prices of the daily gratuities, but it indicated that wifi, drink packages, and dining packages will also go up. John Heald, Carnival Brand Ambassador, provided some additional information to Carnival fans on his Facebook page. 

Purchase	Previous Cost	New Cost	Price Increase
Cheers Drink Package (pre-purchase price)	$51.95 per day	$59.95 per day	13%
Cheers Drink Package (onboard price)	$56.95 per day	$64.95 per day	12%
Bottomless Bubbles Soda Package	$8.50 per day (adults) $5.95 per day (kids)	$9.50 per day (adults) $6.95 per day (kids)	11%
Cucina del Capitano	$15 adults / $5 kids	$18 adults / $6 kids	17%
JiJi’s Asian Kitchen	$15 adults / $5 kids	$18 adults / $6 kids	17%
Bonsai Teppanyaki	$32 (all guests)	$35 (all guests)	9%
Rudi’s Seagrill	$38 adults / $12 kids	$42 adults / $13 kids	11%
Steakhouse / Fahrenheit 555	$38 adults / $12 kids	$42 adults / $13 kids	10%
Daily Gratuities	$13.99 per day	$14.50 per day	4%
Wifi / Internet Package (pre-purchase price)	Social: $6.80 per day Value: $10.20 per day Premium: $13.60 per day	Social: $8.50 per day Value: $11.05 per day Premium: $13.60 per day	11%

Then John has no idea about the prices of the internet.  On our cruise in January and our cruise on the Mardi Gras in two weeks we paid $14.45 for the premium internet, which is already more than the $13.60 this has listed.  Not sure where that price came from.

[ralphbry]

I am going on the Panorama June 4.  I am trying to book a 7 day thermal spa pass. It keeps saying sorry something went wrong when I try to add it to my cart. I am wondering if this is happening because they are going to increase the price? Just my speculation. Anyone else having this problem?

[bstel]

On 4/4/2022 at 4:19 PM, Aplmac said:

Sooner or later everything is going to go UP.

 

It's unavoidable,

and it'll get passed on to the ultimate consumer.
Me and You.

 

No need to sweat this, it's unavoidable. It's coming.

Welcome to the wonderful world of inflation stacked on top of the cruise lines trying to make up for 2-3 years of losses.

[SNJCruisers]

8 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Looks like we'll be crossing paths on the 2/26/23 Prima -- not sure if I mentioned that previously or not. I see you manage a lot of B2B's. We're finally going to enjoy one on the Reflection later this year (I'm not counting the 3+4-day B2B we took over a decade ago!).

 

Tom

Yea Tom, with Covid forcing me into retirement, the B2B's are lined up for most of our cruises going forward.  Had a 12 day in Jan on the Apex and 14 in MG.  Another 14 next week on our first time on Princess.  Over the next two years we have 10 B2B and a S2S booked.