New Era in Cruising

[StephPS79]

27 minutes ago, LatinaInTexas said:

Guess I haven't been cruising long enough to feel disenchanted yet. I'm enjoying cruising on the various lines and pretty much loving each and every cruise.

 

 

 

Same!

[StephPS79]

2 hours ago, TiredTrucker said:

We are campers going to try cruising for a change.. wish us luck.   

 

As someone who has done both, I will take a cruise over camping 1000 times over.

 

But TBH, I dislike camping quite a bit lol.

[TiredTrucker]

1 hour ago, StephPS79 said:

 

As someone who has done both, I will take a cruise over camping 1000 times over.

 

But TBH, I dislike camping quite a bit lol.

 

My wife says it's spending too much money and energy pretending to be homeless.  😉

[jimbo5544]

20 hours ago, Butterbean1000 said:

True, but you're not stuck with them in the middle of the ocean.

 

“Stuck with them in the middle of the ocean”??   Hahahahaha

[iria64]

3 hours ago, StephPS79 said:

 

As someone who has done both, I will take a cruise over camping 1000 times over.

 

But TBH, I dislike camping quite a bit lol.

I don't camp anymore but when we go on a trip I try to find a campground that has cabins.

The only requirement is the cabins have AC.  I feel less cooped up in a cabin than a hotel room with the added benefit of being able to have a campfire.

[IntrepidFromDC]

11 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

... "every man for himself" demeanor.  

Arrrr.  🤨 🏴‍☠️

[ninjacat123]

47 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Arrrr.  🤨 🏴‍☠️

Yup, pirate speak🏴‍☠️🤣

[simplelife]

Capitalism

[cynt]

Simple, supply and demand. Every vacation destination has increased. Check out Disney World. Crazy insane ticket and hotel prices. But crazy me booked a quick trip the weekend leading to Christmas. Why? Well my twisted rational, we're off two weeks for Christmas and we're driving to Jacksonville FL from TX to see family. We'll be sooo close (2.5 hrs) to Orlando plus our niece will be with us, who has never been to WDW. So we have to go, right? SMH! NO! 

 

The money we're saving by driving, we're using to purchase WDW tickets. So we swapped transportation expenses for entertainment expenses. But we are also sacrificing a total of 28 hours round trip by driving. It sucks but it will be worth it when we surprise her. 

 

So everyone spends their money how they choose to based on their wants. I always say, People will spend their money on what they want to spend it on and you can't tell them what to spend it on.

[Haljo1935]

On 12/11/2023 at 10:05 PM, ruready said:

I agree. I see rude people and unruly kids on any type of vacation.  I see it at my local Target from time to time, lol. 😂 

Time to time? I see unruly on every trip to the store, lol.

[Paelos]

It's a strategy from the cruise lines. Royal is positioning itself or trying to move away from NCL and Carnival as a more premium brand. You can see this with their pricing and their focus on suites in ships. Carnival and MSC are trying to grab the budget cruise market, and NCL is trying to hold the line in the middle. 

 

Here's the dirty secret of the pandemic economy, outside of hospitality it was great for a lot of sectors of the economy. Lots of people had more money because in many cases they got paid more and couldn't spend it. That's why inflation is out of control, because the pent up disposable income started to outflow in 2022 and 2023.

 

So the cruise companies are absolutely positioning themselves to grab people in their 30s to 40s who at high earning power with families that have a lot of disposable cash they are looking to put in a vacation.

 

What they are not interested in is older budget cruisers who remember the good Ole days when they could cruise and everything was included. They are interested in enhancing on board spend as That's become their primary margin driver.

Edited December 13, 2023 by Paelos

[jimbo5544]

15 minutes ago, Paelos said:

It's a strategy from the cruise lines. Royal is positioning itself or trying to move away from NCL and Carnival as a more premium brand. You can see this with their pricing and their focus on suites in ships. Carnival and MSC are trying to grab the budget cruise market, and NCL is trying to hold the line in the middle. 

 

Here's the dirty secret of the pandemic economy, outside of hospitality it was great for a lot of sectors of the economy. Lots of people had more money because in many cases they got paid more and couldn't spend it. That's why inflation is out of control, because the pent up disposable income started to outflow in 2022 and 2023.

 

So the cruise companies are absolutely positioning themselves to grab people in their 30s to 40s who at high earning power with families that have a lot of disposable cash they are looking to put in a vacation.

 

What they are not interested in is older budget cruisers who remember the good Ole days when they could cruise and everything was included. They are interested in enhancing on board spend as That's become their primary margin driver.

I see nothing to demonstrate that their marketing has changed at all.  Carnival’s plan has long been to attract first time cruiser.  There is simply pent up demand.  19 months of being locked down, esp in this industry, which is totally unique.

[jimbo5544]

34 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Time to time? I see unruly on every trip to the store, lol.

BINGO

 

[iheartmarshall]

I've definitely noticed the price increases and the little extras that no longer exist, to the point that after our last cruise in August, I started to wonder if cruising (or maybe just Carnival) isn't for me anymore.  However, that was short lived -- a cruise is what you make it and if you go into it knowing what to expect, then you should be okay.  Are there things I miss from 10 years ago?  Of course.  But, I understand that we have to adapt and no one is forcing me to cruise.  It's a choice we make, to either accept the changes and enjoy the new experience or choose a different vacation option. 

[mz-s]

11 minutes ago, iheartmarshall said:

I've definitely noticed the price increases and the little extras that no longer exist, to the point that after our last cruise in August, I started to wonder if cruising (or maybe just Carnival) isn't for me anymore.  However, that was short lived -- a cruise is what you make it and if you go into it knowing what to expect, then you should be okay.  Are there things I miss from 10 years ago?  Of course.  But, I understand that we have to adapt and no one is forcing me to cruise.  It's a choice we make, to either accept the changes and enjoy the new experience or choose a different vacation option. 

 

Part of the frustration is you don't really know what to expect all the time because new cutbacks and reductions in service happen all the time and with zero warning. The only way we would know about many of them is from people talking about it on here.

 

You can't really go into a cruise looking forward to anything in particular because it's all subject to change at any time.

[iheartmarshall]

Just now, mz-s said:

 

Part of the frustration is you don't really know what to expect all the time because new cutbacks and reductions in service happen all the time and with zero warning. The only way we would know about many of them is from people talking about it on here.

 

You can't really go into a cruise looking forward to anything in particular because it's all subject to change at any time.

Good point!  There's a lot that happens on a whim for sure.  It's definitely different than it used to be. 

[dlphn501]

21 minutes ago, iheartmarshall said:

I've definitely noticed the price increases and the little extras that no longer exist, to the point that after our last cruise in August, I started to wonder if cruising (or maybe just Carnival) isn't for me anymore.  However, that was short lived -- a cruise is what you make it and if you go into it knowing what to expect, then you should be okay.  Are there things I miss from 10 years ago?  Of course.  But, I understand that we have to adapt and no one is forcing me to cruise.  It's a choice we make, to either accept the changes and enjoy the new experience or choose a different vacation option. 

Right, so long as we are aware of the changes.  Like changing from Coke to Pepsi.  I'm glad I knew before I boarded so that I could bring my own.  But some people have their own ways of looking at things and they refuse to change, so they will go elsewhere to get what they want.  The fancy dinner is one example - my sister always cruises on Disney, and one of the things she raves about is dinner and everyone being dressed up.  But for me, my hunger and enjoyment of my food is not changed if someone is wearing a t-shirt and flip flops.  A lot of people have the same mentality as my sister.  Hopefully enough people will be annoyed with Carnival's changes and go elsewhere so there's more room for me to cruise lol.

[Saint Greg]

3 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

I see nothing to demonstrate that their marketing has changed at all.  Carnival’s plan has long been to attract first time cruiser.  There is simply pent up demand.  19 months of being locked down, esp in this industry, which is totally unique.

 

I think the strategy now is give away a bunch of rooms for free to people they think will lose a lot in the casino. Then the rest of the ship is supply/demand. 

[mz-s]

6 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

I think the strategy now is give away a bunch of rooms for free to people they think will lose a lot in the casino. Then the rest of the ship is supply/demand. 

 

That was certainly the strategy before COVID and during the restart, but I and many others have seen the free room offers slowly dry up over the past year. My gambling habit hasn't changed so my guess is Carnival has throttled that lever back down a bit.

[aborgman]

4 hours ago, cynt said:

Simple, supply and demand. Every vacation destination has increased.

 

Yes... but while average overall travel costs are up 20% since 2019, cruise costs are on average up 43% in teh same time frame.

 

 

[jamie717]

On 12/11/2023 at 8:01 PM, Butterbean1000 said:

I'm just not as enamored with it as I once was

We started cruising in 1993 and a lot has changed in our 30 years of cruising.  The excitement I feel when we are close to the port and looking every which way to get the first glimpse of the cruise ship is the same today as it was the very first time! If I ever lose that feeling, that excitement, then I know it's time to look elsewhere! Many changes in cruising but, thankfully, no changes to the way it makes me feel every single time!

[staceyglow]

55 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

That was certainly the strategy before COVID and during the restart, but I and many others have seen the free room offers slowly dry up over the past year. My gambling habit hasn't changed so my guess is Carnival has throttled that lever back down a bit.

Maybe someone at Carnival is reading your posts.  😁

[mz-s]

4 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Maybe someone at Carnival is reading your posts.  😁

 

Hah probably so! I'd expect to pay over rack rate if that's the case though 😉 

 

I don't complain onboard unless something is really wrong - like the deli sandwich I got that was still frozen inside. I know the crew work very hard and for the most part do their very best every minute of the day.

Edited December 13, 2023 by mz-s

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

That was certainly the strategy before COVID and during the restart, but I and many others have seen the free room offers slowly dry up over the past year. My gambling habit hasn't changed so my guess is Carnival has throttled that lever back down a bit.

 

I don't remember seeing as many people talking about it pre-covid. 

[Butterbean1000]

1 hour ago, jamie717 said:

We started cruising in 1993 and a lot has changed in our 30 years of cruising.  The excitement I feel when we are close to the port and looking every which way to get the first glimpse of the cruise ship is the same today as it was the very first time! If I ever lose that feeling, that excitement, then I know it's time to look elsewhere! Many changes in cruising but, thankfully, no changes to the way it makes me feel every single time!

 I still get all excited with the first sight of the ship and with my first Fun Ship Special.  I hate it, but a lot of the rest has lost a little of the luster.