Retreat pricing for next year is absolutely absurd

[FiremedicMike151]

I'm sitting here trying to plan out next year's vacation for my wife and I.  We spoiled ourselves on our first celebrity cruise with a retreat booking and loved the overall experience.

 

Next summer, however, everything is at least $1,200 per day, and that's for the "lower class" suites that don't get full retreat perks.

 

I mean seriously, this has become absolutely ridiculous..

 

[PTC DAWG]

The market controls pricing…

[lv2cruisgrl]

3 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

I'm sitting here trying to plan out next year's vacation for my wife and I.  We spoiled ourselves on our first celebrity cruise with a retreat booking and loved the overall experience.

 

Next summer, however, everything is at least $1,200 per day, and that's for the "lower class" suites that don't get full retreat perks.

 

I mean seriously, this has become absolutely ridiculous..

 

We agree and refuse to over pay for something that's just not worth it.

[George C]

I did a sky suite on beyond last November on beyond about 3k with lots of OBC , this November it was more than 1k more so we booked rccl grand suite for about 2k less , paid just 250 for UDP , don’t need drink package since we get 5 free drinks plus suite happy hour next November will most likely book suite on rccl or MSc yacht club.

[mac_tlc]

6 minutes ago, George C said:

I did a sky suite on beyond last November on beyond about 3k with lots of OBC , this November it was more than 1k more so we booked rccl grand suite for about 2k less , paid just 250 for UDP , don’t need drink package since we get 5 free drinks plus suite happy hour next November will most likely book suite on rccl or MSc yacht club.

Congrats on your GS price. Your GS price on Royal is attainable, but not widespread. A few Oasis this fall (I found $4950 for a GS for 2), a few Harmony out of Galveston. Don't try to find that price on Symphony, Wonder or Utopia. Even Allure 3/4 day cruises are not attractive IMO. Wonder pricing makes a Sky Suite seem like a bargain. And don't even peek at Icon.

 

For the times we have done direct comparisons of same time, same departure port (or close) Royal is no bargain.

 

We are also close to booking YC on MSC Seashore for next November for about $400pppd. Time to try something different.

 

 

mac+tlc

 

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by mac_tlc

[hcat]

hopefully prices will drop, market does control..look for sales!

 

AQ Class  is hopefilly still  a  good alt..also pricier than in the padt.

 

You get BLU dining...thermal suite access and still on Celeb..in our opinik  nicer that Royal ships and amenities/ food

[bikerunner]

38 minutes ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

We agree and refuse to over pay for something that's just not worth it.

But many do if they are getting that pricing,  The pricing is what it is, all things have gone crazy in pricing for travel, tho starting to see some leveling out on land based but next years stuff still from what it was still expensive.  I have my next 2 with Celebrity and that's probably it with me for them, as I have booked Oceana and Azamara already for next year.  

[DeltaJoe15]

The wife an I are booked on the Silhouette this December in a Sky Suite  Looking for next year in early December  the price in out of site.  Celebrity is starting to out price me

[RosieRoo]

42 minutes ago, DeltaJoe15 said:

The wife an I are booked on the Silhouette this December in a Sky Suite  Looking for next year in early December  the price in out of site.  Celebrity is starting to out price me

I feel the same. Just spent a week in MSCs Yacht Club. Far superior experience at much less cost. 

[crusinthrough]

You may have some luck with off peak pricing.  

[George C]

13 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Congrats on your GS price. Your GS price on Royal is attainable, but not widespread. A few Oasis this fall (I found $4950 for a GS for 2), a few Harmony out of Galveston. Don't try to find that price on Symphony, Wonder or Utopia. Even Allure 3/4 day cruises are not attractive IMO. Wonder pricing makes a Sky Suite seem like a bargain. And don't even peek at Icon.

 

For the times we have done direct comparisons of same time, same departure port (or close) Royal is no bargain.

 

We are also close to booking YC on MSC Seashore for next November for about $400pppd. Time to try something different.

 

 

mac+tlc

 

 

I normally avoid the new ships since they are normally much higher priced that the very similar older class ships. We totally loved MSc yacht club way better perks than rccl suites.

[Suite Susie]

We priced up a Sky suite on Beyond for the Caribbean 2024/25 and it was the same price as Silversea.  

[Cruise a holic]

We agree that the pricing is out of control.  Same with sister Royal.  This is so evident for suites, but once you are used to suite service and amenities hard to consider a regular cabin.  Even with the cuts.  

 

We enjoyed four cruises a year, but will cut to three, and if necessary two and a land vacation at an excellent AI.

[Jeremiah1212]

They're high all over the price and people continue to pay it. Royal Caribbean's are astronomical for what you get, Celebrity is high, MSC is higher and climbing and you have to be willing to be on Carnival 2.0 if you leave Yacht Club, NCL routinely is higher than Celebrity where many itineraries start at 10k for a 7 night Caribbean cruise. HAL and Princess are cheaper but generally not a one-for-one comparable product. 

[FiremedicMike151]

5 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

They're high all over the price and people continue to pay it. Royal Caribbean's are astronomical for what you get, Celebrity is high, MSC is higher and climbing and you have to be willing to be on Carnival 2.0 if you leave Yacht Club, NCL routinely is higher than Celebrity where many itineraries start at 10k for a 7 night Caribbean cruise. HAL and Princess are cheaper but generally not a one-for-one comparable product. 

The mock booking's I've done over the last few days have been over warm itineraries next year, late summer through late fall, and have all shown the retreat at around 1200-1400 per day and MSC YC at 750-850 per day.  Still a hard pill to swallow when you compare it to a land all-inclusive, but significantly cheaper than celebrity.. 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by FiremedicMike151

[Jeremiah1212]

28 minutes ago, FiremedicMike151 said:

The mock booking's I've done over the last few days have been over warm itineraries next year, late summer through late fall, and have all shown the retreat at around 1200-1400 per day and MSC YC at 750-850 per day.  Still a hard pill to swallow when you compare it to a land all-inclusive, but significantly cheaper than celebrity.. 

 

 

In my experience (I don't deal with MSC anymore FWIW) a lot of people shopping at that price point aren't necessarily deterred by that difference in pricing. They will spend more for Celebrity to not be stuck within the confines or YC. A Retreat booking on Celebrity should walk away with way more OBC than you can get on MSC which narrows the gap. You would still need to upgrade WiFi and pay gratuities on MSC. When you look at the entire product in my opinion it's significantly different. 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Jeremiah1212

[leyland1989]

Just vote with your wallet. 

 

The price will go down if nobody is paying them.

It's very likely that my upcoming cruise will be my last with celebrity. Capitalism has priced me out, I guess it sucks to be poor. 

[FiremedicMike151]

20 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

In my experience (I don't deal with MSC anymore FWIW) a lot of people shopping at that price point aren't necessarily deterred by that difference in pricing. They will spend more for Celebrity to not be stuck within the confines or YC. A Retreat booking on Celebrity should walk away with way more OBC than you can get on MSC which narrows the gap. You would still need to upgrade WiFi and pay gratuities on MSC. When you look at the entire product in my opinion it's significantly different. 

I did not notice that gratuities weren't included, that's a bummer..

 

[QuestionEverything]

As a consumer, examine your travel options; cruising is but 1. There are many other wonderful travel methods.

We have cancelled cruising other than every second year or so.

Have a fabuolous new sports vehicle for North American tours, Globus land trips with customized guides and private chauffeured travel.

There is a big world too see and after decades of cruising, cruising is becoming repetitive, abusively expensive, processed etc.

The cruise lines can do what they want, I will decide if they can have my business. 

 

[miched]

If you raise the prices it has to be better.  Some people believe that the more you pay the better the product.  
 

There was an old  wives tale going around years ago about a pie shop that was selling pies for $5 and was going to close down due to lack of business.   Someone told them that the problem was they were charging enough and suggested that they raise the price to $15.   The owner said that is crazy we can’t sell them at $5 who will buy them at $15?    The customer convinced him to at least try as it couldn’t hurt.

 

He raised the price to $15 and within a few weeks he couldn’t keep up with the demand.   At $5 they didn’t think that the pies could be  very good but at $15 they had to be.  And the higher price made it a special treat for some to splurge on.

 

I have heard it from many first time cruisers that it is a once in a lifetime cruise or vacation  and they really splurged on it to make that more special.  

 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited August 28, 2023 by miched

[deliver42]

We're both on SS and pensions. We've sailed Celebrity on the Equinox and the Beyond when they were affordable. Neither is affordable to us any more. Royal is getting that way also. Princess and HAL offer much more for less money. I know neither matches what Celebrity is, but they're both superior to what Royal is, and i can enjoy myself on either.

[retired dude]

2 hours ago, miched said:

If you raise the prices it has to be better.  Some people believe that the more you pay the better the product.  
 

There was an old  wives tale going around years ago about a pie shop that was selling pies for $5 and was going to close down due to lack of business.   Someone told them that the problem was they were charging enough and suggested that they raise the price to $15.   The owner said that is crazy we can’t sell them at $5 who will buy them at $15?    The customer convinced him to at least try as it couldn’t hurt.

 

He raised the price to $15 and within a few weeks he couldn’t keep up with the demand.   At $5 they didn’t think that the pies could be  very good but at $15 they had to be.  And the higher price made it a special treat for some to splurge on.

 

I have heard it from many first time cruisers that it is a once in a lifetime cruise or vacation  and they really splurged on it to make that more special.  

 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

selling overpriced cruises to first time cruisers is way too easy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mnocket]

4 hours ago, leyland1989 said:

Capitalism has priced me out

Probably should look at booking a Chinese, Cuban or Venezuelan cruise line then🤣

[conquesodor]

High demand for cruises + broad economic inflation = increasing cost for cruises across all lines.

[Captain-John]

I wish people would stop paying the higher prices - it will come when raising interest rates etc. bite - but in the meantime, pricing will remain high for as long as people will pay it as has been noted.

 

I don't see the value vs. price proposition as being very strong and make my cruising decisions accordingly... if only more did.

 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by Captain-John