Increased prices in the fun shops (water, etc) today

[CarnivalShips480]

9 minutes ago, luv2kroooz said:

That $5 increase drops to the bottom line. They either need to raise prices or reduce expenses. Carnival has been and continues to do both.

 

8 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

What does being a Diamond VIFP have to do with bottled water costing more? Also, show me any non-grocery business that charges less than $1 per bottled water. They all overcharge for something that is free. 

 

I swear, Carnival is better off just raising fares. People could have their fare raised by $100 and not think twice, but having those "$5 nickel and dimes" just ruins their lives.

The points of these are to reduce food waste and not use as much plastic

[luv2kroooz]

1 minute ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

 

The points of these are to reduce food waste and not use as much plastic

That is Carnival's stated reason for the change......my understanding is a competing cruise line recently switched to environmentally friendly packaging without the price increase.

[Purvis1231]

Even at $10 it is still cheaper than water at most any other type of resort, so it is not deal breaker, is it? 

 

[Drazil65]

Its .83 cents a bottle, it probably should have already been raised a while ago.  

[ShakyBeef]

Come on, y'all, we all* knew the price on the bottled water from the FunShops was going to go up.  I'm surprised they didn't do it years ago.  The reason the case of bottled water was so cheap to begin with was a PR spin to soften the blow of PAX no longer being allowed to carry on bottled beverages, including water (BTW, thanks a lot for that, all you selfish, the-rules-don't-apply-to-me alcohol smugglers!😠).  We all knew it back then that they would raise the price after the introductory lower price was put in place to silence complaints.  Any who complained on these boards about no longer being able to carry on bottled water back when the rule went into effect were called ridiculous and told we were better off, since the FunShops water price had been lowered at the same time.  Anyone who was cruising Carnival then and didn't realize the price would go way up eventually must have had their heads up their butts. 

 

* By "we all" I refer to anyone who has been sailing Carnival for a certain number of years, since before the time of the crackdown on bottles.

[starstruck05]

The price of water is still less than $1 each which is fine except the same brand of water is sold in a 6 pack at Dollar Tree and Big Lots for $1.25. I buy the 12 pack every cruise but the $9.95 mark it is not equal to the value or quality of this water. Some people can't drink the direct ship water because it still has a bit on sodium in it , so tgey sweel up or it causes issues with certain medications and it can't be used for CPAP machines. If it was a better brand of water, I wouldn't care about such a price jump but because I know how much it actually is valued the cost increase doesn't make sense.

[mz-s]

12 minutes ago, starstruck05 said:

The price of water is still less than $1 each which is fine except the same brand of water is sold in a 6 pack at Dollar Tree and Big Lots for $1.25. I buy the 12 pack every cruise but the $9.95 mark it is not equal to the value or quality of this water. Some people can't drink the direct ship water because it still has a bit on sodium in it , so tgey sweel up or it causes issues with certain medications and it can't be used for CPAP machines. If it was a better brand of water, I wouldn't care about such a price jump but because I know how much it actually is valued the cost increase doesn't make sense.

you can bring water on for a cpap.

[ShakyBeef]

13 minutes ago, starstruck05 said:

The price of water is still less than $1 each which is fine except the same brand of water is sold in a 6 pack at Dollar Tree and Big Lots for $1.25. I buy the 12 pack every cruise but the $9.95 mark it is not equal to the value or quality of this water. Some people can't drink the direct ship water because it still has a bit on sodium in it , so tgey sweel up or it causes issues with certain medications and it can't be used for CPAP machines. If it was a better brand of water, I wouldn't care about such a price jump but because I know how much it actually is valued the cost increase doesn't make sense.

 

I agree the bottled water offered by Carnival is not good quality.  And of course it's offered at a price much higher than available from a store on land.  But isn't that true of everything we purchase onboard a ship?  The mark-up is inevitable and should be expected.  Heck, a glass of that nasty, undrinkable swill, Rex Goliath pinot noir is sold onboard for about $9 a glass last I noticed.  A whole bottle of it cost $6 on land (not that I would ever buy it🤮).

 

BTW, according to many "experts," including the supplier / servicer company of my husband's C-PAP, the ship's tap water is perfectly fine for use in a C-PAP for the length of a cruise.😉

[starstruck05]

9 minutes ago, mz-s said:

you can bring water on for a cpap.

14 cruises, I'm fully aware of that and I choose not to lug a gallon of water on board when water can be delivered to my room for me.

[starstruck05]

1 minute ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

I agree the bottled water offered by Carnival is not good quality.  And of course it's offered at a price much higher than available from a store on land.  But isn't that true of everything we purchase onboard a ship?  The mark-up is inevitable and should be expected.  Heck, a glass of that nasty, undrinkable swill, Rex Goliath pinot noir is sold onboard for about $9 a glass last I noticed.  A whole bottle of it cost $6 on land (not that I would ever buy it🤮).

 

BTW, according to many "experts," including the supplier / servicer company of my husband's C-PAP, the ship's tap water is perfectly fine for use in a C-PAP for the length of a cruise.😉

I trust I know it should be marked up but that's like selling a can of Sprite for the price of a 12 pack. The sodas on boards are only about a $1 mark up from buying a single can at a gas station these days. That's really my point its a big jump. It needed to jump but not THAT mush. I actually wish they sold Boxed water onboard. Eco friendly and tasty water.

 

I did try the ship water with my CPAP and my machine said heck no and stopped working until I flushed it out. 🤣 

[ShakyBeef]

1 minute ago, starstruck05 said:

I trust I know it should be marked up but that's like selling a can of Sprite for the price of a 12 pack. The sodas on boards are only about a $1 mark up from buying a single can at a gas station these days. That's really my point its a big jump. It needed to jump but not THAT mush. I actually wish they sold Boxed water onboard. Eco friendly and tasty water.

 

I did try the ship water with my CPAP and my machine said heck no and stopped working until I flushed it out. 🤣 

 

Yikes!😲  I've never heard of that happening with ship's water.  DH's machine and many others of which I know work just fine on it.  I'm not doubting you.  I'm just surprised it happened.  DH's C-PAP builds up a residue if he uses our home (town) tap water (very mineral heavy, actually has a slight brownish tint🤢) for more than a day or so when he runs out of distilled and is too lazy to go downstairs and get a bottle of spring water, but I hadn't heard of this happening with ship's water.

[mz-s]

18 minutes ago, starstruck05 said:

14 cruises, I'm fully aware of that and I choose not to lug a gallon of water on board when water can be delivered to my room for me.

I guess if you need a gallon, sure. When my wife used a cpap we just brought on a bottle of drinking water.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

2 hours ago, spleenstomper said:

I just paid 2k for a 6 night for 2 people out of Nola in January. Is that low. It seemed high to me. 

Actually, I would say that is high.  Our 7 night in Aug 2023 on the Glory is about half that (for an Oceanview).

[rikitikitavii]

On 11/2/2022 at 1:47 PM, Island Dog said:

When they stopped allowing water the policy was announced with the statement "but you can buy a 12 pack of water for only $4.95" or something similar.

 

Carnival appears to be in much worse financial condition than other lines and the measures they are taking are very telling of this.

Carnival owes like 36 BILLION dollars in debt, so yeah, worse than others!

[rikitikitavii]

1 hour ago, ShakyBeef said:

Come on, y'all, we all* knew the price on the bottled water from the FunShops was going to go up.  I'm surprised they didn't do it years ago.  The reason the case of bottled water was so cheap to begin with was a PR spin to soften the blow of PAX no longer being allowed to carry on bottled beverages, including water (BTW, thanks a lot for that, all you selfish, the-rules-don't-apply-to-me alcohol smugglers!😠).  We all knew it back then that they would raise the price after the introductory lower price was put in place to silence complaints.  Any who complained on these boards about no longer being able to carry on bottled water back when the rule went into effect were called ridiculous and told we were better off, since the FunShops water price had been lowered at the same time.  Anyone who was cruising Carnival then and didn't realize the price would go way up eventually must have had their heads up their butts. 

 

* By "we all" I refer to anyone who has been sailing Carnival for a certain number of years, since before the time of the crackdown on bottles.

A lot of comments for $5!!!

[ShakyBeef]

6 minutes ago, rikitikitavii said:

A lot of comments for $5!!!

Huh?😕?

[spleenstomper]

14 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Actually, I would say that is high.  Our 7 night in Aug 2023 on the Glory is about half that (for an Oceanview).

It was THE last cabin so beggars can’t be choosers 

[KmomChicago]

14 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Actually, I would say that is high.  Our 7 night in Aug 2023 on the Glory is about half that (for an Oceanview).

Depends what all they added on, like insurance, Cheers, what room type.

[EmmasNana]

Does anyone know pricing on the 3 and 5 bottle premium wine packages assuming you can still purchase on board?

[ShakyBeef]

5 minutes ago, EmmasNana said:

Does anyone know pricing on the 3 and 5 bottle premium wine packages assuming you can still purchase on board?

 

Sorry, I don't have the answer, but I remembered seeing this thread go by a few days ago, maybe it might help:

 

 

[EmmasNana]

7 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

Sorry, I don't have the answer, but I remembered seeing this thread go by a few days ago, maybe it might help:

 

 

Thanks!

[spleenstomper]

3 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Depends what all they added on, like insurance, Cheers, what room type.

No cheers, no insurance, no prepaid gratuity etc. just the 8D balcony but we were the last cabin, so booked late 

[angela12345]

The other thing about the water price going up .... used to be if you ordered the water in advance you didn't pay the 15% gratuity, so there was an advantage to order in advance.  Plus, it would be in your cabin when you arrived.  I know for a fact in 2018 it was $4.50 for 12 pack water and no gratuity charge if ordered in advance.  I thought before that it was $2.95 ? 3.95 ?  But I can't find that anywhere and the search function on this website sucks at best.  Now it's $9.95 + 18% delivery fee.  There is no advantage in ordering in advance.

Yes @ShakyBeef, many of us KNEW the lowered price was a PR spin for no longer being allowed to bring our own water onboard and that price was going to go up up up.  It was approx end 2015/beginning 2016 when they changed it so we could no longer bring on bottled water ?

[imacruiser99]

Bottled water, among a lot of other items, are an optional expense.  If folks do not like the price increases, no one is making you pay for them.  Let the business earn some money.  Would you rather have a totally optional purchase go up in price or the base cruise cost double.  

 

And to add to the swirl, that goes the same is true to the service charges, consider them as a a base cost to the cruise, otherwise, if folks want to stiff the staff, the only option would be for the base prices to raise.  If you have any doubts, look at the NCL Pride of America, which only says in Hawaiian waters.  The base price of that cruise is much higher than all other NCL ships because Hawaii requires them to pay a fair wage up front. 

[cruisinqt]

It’s not just Carnival. I cruise several lines and they’re all complaining about price increases and cutbacks. Over on the Royal Caribbean boards they’re flipping out about Diamond level cruisers not being able to use the concierge lounge anymore. They’re also pissed that they’re only getting once a day cleaning now, pre cruise food and beverages have gone way up, and cruise prices are much higher too. The truth is the ENTIRE cruise industry is hurting very badly financially. They had to shutdown operations completely for YEARS, not weeks, not months, but YEARS. Any business that is forced to shutdown for years is going to be hurting financially and make cutbacks in order to stay afloat. I’m not happy about the changes and cutbacks but I realize it’s happening industry wide and I’ll either have to deal with it no matter who I cruise with or stop cruising. So I guess I’ll have to just suck it up and deal with it because I love cruising too much to give it up.