Just curious...pricing cruising with 1 and 2 year old....

[Guppy99]

10 hours ago, tartana said:

I have also looked at cruising solo occasionally because my hubby isn't always as adventurous as me...and I agree with you....Celebrity is really lacking in the Solo fare dept typically.   

This is not by any stretch limited to Celebrity.

[mayleeman]

This thread is very interesting because it highlights differences in attitudes toward travel pricing. Long-time cruisers rail regularly against certain policies on cruise fares, but when a newbie questions something like a minimal or zero discount for kids or solo fares, those concerns are dismissed as naive and acting "entitled."

 

The fact is, cruise lines have stacked the deck(s) to maximize profit with major penalties and unnecessary restrictions. We might accept those, but these in particular are ridiculous:

 

--Why can't bookings be transferred to another person, by at least, say, 30 days before departure? 

 

--Why can't you simply transfer a booking before final payment to another ship without penalty so long as you pay any increase in fare?

 

Both of those would involve at most a few keystrokes by cruise employees, so the expense is not the reason. Additional revenue is.

 

My biggest complaint, of course after my 6 month wait, is the inability of cruise lines to be able to refund, or provide FCCs, as quickly as they charge purchases and fares. 

 

Solo fares obviously involve a need to make up for lost revenue from purchases. But it would be reasonable to expect a discount to allow for lesser consumption, and same with OP's thoughts about child fares. 

 

It may reflect a passivity over things that previously were unheard of. We as travellers and consumers have grown accustomed to all manner of fees for formerly included things. Those fees always have been added on to pad company coffers, and never have been accompanied by a lower base price.  Luggage fees (somehow Southwest lives on), user and transaction fees...look at the add-ons to cable and cell bills, where most fees are now disguising costs of doing business. It is like new car invoices: document fee ($300 to $400?), advertising fee, and my favorite seen once--a "lighting fee."

 

While there may be legitimate and reasonable explanations for many costs, it doesn't hurt to question some costs and to realize that over time we may be getting taken for a ride as well as for a cruise.

 

[Homosassa]

11 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

It may reflect a passivity over things that previously were unheard of. We as travellers and consumers have grown accustomed to all manner of fees for formerly included things.

 

As someone that has cruised since 1976 I can agree that there are now fees for things that use to be included.

 

However, cruise fares used to be much higher to cover the higher priced parts of a cruise experience. Examples are a whole northern lobster in the MDR, alcoholic drinks available at prices much lower than on shore (no tax and priced basically at cost of the beverage ingredients), excellent entertainment and activities that had no fees or needed reservations.

 

Many of the cruise lines decided that there needed to be more bodies on board but also realized that many would not pay the fares necessary to have what was then a typical cruise experience.

 

The result was the low get them on board and then charge for everything fare system we now have.

 

Of course, to get people to pay for more on  the ship, the overall board experience had to be cheapen to have people think that they had to upgrade (pay more) to raise what they were purchasing to somewhat higher levels.  

 

As a result we have people who think paying for the upgraded food in a specialty restaurant is needed to have food somewhat edible, paying for a production show is standard, or that,  of course, drinks (alcoholic or nonalcoholic) are a big revenue stream for the ship.

 

Those who actually want a cruise experience "like in the old days," can still have  it by booking cruise lines that offer that type of experience across the board to all the passengers. But the price is comparable to what one would have paid on cruise lines before they went mass market and have the mass market cruisers gasping in horror.

 

Or for those that want the upgraded experience at a lower cost than they would pay for a cruise on a ship where the entire ship is available at the same high level of service and products), pay to isolate themselves in a tiny section of the ship (usually in the formerly unused high and forward decks for passengers  because of the roughness of the ship's motion) and only venture out when escorted to their special seats at entertainment ventures or priority tendering (which is not needed on lines where the ship runs enough tender that one is always available with no waiting).

 

While some love what they think of as a ship within a ship concept, some of us realize they are paying for the cheaper penthouse available in the economically depressed section of town as opposed to the penthouse in the luxury complex in the upscale section of town.

 

 

[Guppy99]

1 hour ago, mayleeman said:

We might accept those, but these in particular are ridiculous:

 

--Why can't bookings be transferred to another person, by at least, say, 30 days before departure? 

 

--Why can't you simply transfer a booking before final payment to another ship without penalty so long as you pay any increase in fare?

 

 

 

On your first point, I would agree with you as long as the transfer is in fact a direct transfer (smae everything) and done before on-line check-in is available.  So 45 - 60 days prior.  Otherwise, not just a simple few key strokes.

 

On your second point, I do not agree. Transferring a booking, even prior to booking, involves multiple systems and is not at all a simple matter. Allowing people, as a policy, to do so would cause an avalanche of problems just prior to full payment on any particular sailing.  people book sailings with no committed intention of actually going at that particular sailing all the time. Bad enough they just cancel, but to allow transfers would be a nightmare.

 

And every customer service contact is expensive. Do you really want fares to go up by allowing these things? Probably not. 

[tartana]

Coming in the last few years to cruising as a regular traveller used to frequenting all inclusive resorts with AI packages, I have found the leniency in changing and cancelling cruises wild.  I'm not complaining about this; it is just VERY different than booking AI packages from Canada to various areas in the Caribbean. It blows my mind how you can make changes, reprice, make new bookings, cancellations often with little or no penalties.  Without going through travel insurance, this is not what we are used to.  There is usually very little wiggle room with changing and cancelling AI trips unless you pay extra for the luxury.  Now since covid, many tour companies have a much lower fee for possible changes, but in the past it wasn't nearly as common to see.  It is nice to be able to have some room for changes including better pricing or added perks, etc... Just adding my take since getting more initiated with cruising.  

[schittenden]

My son (10) has sailed Carnival (several times), Disney (twice), and Celebrity (twice).  He has said that he prefers Celebrity and their kids programming to Carnival.  His first cruise was on Carnival at 11 months.  He loves being on the ship.  It's a great vacation for us, because he starts his day wanting to know what time kids club/club ocean/camp at sea opens and wants to be there until it closes.  When they have camp dinners, he prefers those to being forced to use his silverware properly in the dining room with us (though, he does quite well at that, and we often receive compliments on his manners from other diners both on land and at sea).  We follow the rules and don't take him where he's not supposed to go when he's not supposed to go there.  We've always found plenty of activities for everyone, no matter what ship we're on.

[PTC DAWG]

4 minutes ago, schittenden said:

My son (10) has sailed Carnival (several times), Disney (twice), and Celebrity (twice).  He has said that he prefers Celebrity and their kids programming to Carnival.  His first cruise was on Carnival at 11 months.  He loves being on the ship.  It's a great vacation for us, because he starts his day wanting to know what time kids club/club ocean/camp at sea opens and wants to be there until it closes.  When they have camp dinners, he prefers those to being forced to use his silverware properly in the dining room with us (though, he does quite well at that, and we often receive compliments on his manners from other diners both on land and at sea).  We follow the rules and don't take him where he's not supposed to go when he's not supposed to go there.  We've always found plenty of activities for everyone, no matter what ship we're on.

Your Son has good parents.  

[schittenden]

Just now, PTC DAWG said:

Your Son has good parents.  

Thank you.  He's not perfect, but he is unfailingly polite in dealing with the crew and waitstaff.  It is a source of pride that he is always respectful and courteous toward them.  I can't say that we always get the same courtesy at home, but...

[tartana]

14 minutes ago, schittenden said:

My son (10) has sailed Carnival (several times), Disney (twice), and Celebrity (twice).  He has said that he prefers Celebrity and their kids programming to Carnival.  His first cruise was on Carnival at 11 months.  He loves being on the ship.  It's a great vacation for us, because he starts his day wanting to know what time kids club/club ocean/camp at sea opens and wants to be there until it closes.  When they have camp dinners, he prefers those to being forced to use his silverware properly in the dining room with us (though, he does quite well at that, and we often receive compliments on his manners from other diners both on land and at sea).  We follow the rules and don't take him where he's not supposed to go when he's not supposed to go there.  We've always found plenty of activities for everyone, no matter what ship we're on.

Our kids were always great travellers as well.... except we did the AI resort scene for their whole childhoods.  - Ours were similar in that they liked the more basic resorts with fun pools over scenes like Disney, etc....   Now we're moving on to the next generation, and we like cruising now too.  I know we would all enjoy it if and when the time comes for us to try it. :) 

[Guppy99]

1 hour ago, schittenden said:

My son (10) has sailed Carnival (several times), Disney (twice), and Celebrity (twice).  He has said that he prefers Celebrity and their kids programming to Carnival.  His first cruise was on Carnival at 11 months.  He loves being on the ship.  It's a great vacation for us, because he starts his day wanting to know what time kids club/club ocean/camp at sea opens and wants to be there until it closes.  When they have camp dinners, he prefers those to being forced to use his silverware properly in the dining room with us (though, he does quite well at that, and we often receive compliments on his manners from other diners both on land and at sea).  We follow the rules and don't take him where he's not supposed to go when he's not supposed to go there.  We've always found plenty of activities for everyone, no matter what ship we're on.

Wonderful! That was my children's experience on Celebrity as well. Also, I found my children had great learning opportunities on Celebrity in terms of manners, considerate behavior etc.... more so that other lines.

[schittenden]

7 hours ago, tartana said:

Our kids were always great travellers as well.... except we did the AI resort scene for their whole childhoods.  - Ours were similar in that they liked the more basic resorts with fun pools over scenes like Disney, etc....   Now we're moving on to the next generation, and we like cruising now too.  I know we would all enjoy it if and when the time comes for us to try it. 🙂

Don’t get me wrong. He is desperate to get on the newest Disney ship. He loves all things Star Wars. 

[DCPIV]

@tartana I hear ya!  We started cruising with our boys when they were 1 and 3.  I honestly don't recall what the fare was, but I do recall thinking it sounded like a lot for what there was.  We went ahead and bit the bullet.

 

Once we were on board, we quickly saw the value.  The crew were magnificent with the boys, and I don't just mean the kids' program crew.  We had an absolutely magnificent time, all of us.  Granted, we were on Royal Caribbean, but I don't know that the RC ships of those days were a whole lot different that the Celebrity ships today.

 

As for how that compared to AI resorts, I really cannot say as they were not as prevalent or as family oriented as they are now.