Anyone Else Leaving or Considering Leaving RCL Over Prices?

[chill6x6]

I’m currently on my last Royal cruise for a while. I can get a Pinnnacle suite on Holland America for any Star class and many Sky class suites—-similar itineraries and prob a nicer ship. The Haven on NCL is much less usually as well. 

[BecciBoo]

13 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

And you got paid $2.15/hour.

Actually I was a foot loose and fancy free teen with my own junker car, wasn't paid anything LOL 1966

[BecciBoo]

28 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Does anyone really believe that these perks are “free?”

They're free for me.  If I were not D+ I assure you I'd be paying for them.  As I will on Jubilee.

[Ocean Boy]

27 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

D, D+, and P perks.  Does anyone really believe that these perks are “free?”  They’re marketed as complimentary, but in the end everyone is paying for them including those who don’t receive them.  I’m not suggesting that those “free” perks account for all of the recently observed price hikes.   There is debt that needs to be serviced.  Inflation’s impact on food costs.  And so on.   A lot of things have led to higher fares, more expensive drink packages, bump up for specialty dining, etc.   Can there be any doubt that the number crunchers know to the dollar the cost (not price) of all of the D and above drinks served on every ship, every cruise, every day?  Add in the increased number of upper tier cruisers and it does add up.  It all comes down to Revenue - Expenses = Profit/Loss and the goal of RCL and any business is to maximize Profit. So someone is paying the piper since I’m quite sure there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

 

We currently have three RCLs booked and these bookings were made quite time ago.  25Oct24  12N TA on Adventure that was booked Jan2023.  Balcony:  $1517.00 incl tax/fees. It was slightly more but cruise went from 13N to 12N and RCL prorated.  This not a GTY.  Then Jan2025 B2B  on Brilliance out of MSY.  JS on both.  $2500 avg incl taxes and fees. I balked a bit at $2500 and even then thought pricing had gone up. For years I always considered approx $200-225 a night a good fare for a balcony and approx $350 a night a good fare for a JS.

 

Surprisingly, for 2023, we did not cruise RCL.  Well, DW did a 7N on Symphony with her sister.  We did a Panama Canal in Feb2023 and then B2B Alaska in Sep2023 cruises on NCL.  In June2023, we took a Canada/Bermuda cruise on Regent and then a SA Lima to Buenos Aries this past Dec, also on Regent.

 

Being D+ with perks didn’t even enter the discussion.

 

Friends have cruised Atlas and enjoyed it.  Currently looking at a May Atlas Caribbean with mostly new ports to visit. Waiting on feedback for Explora (MSC’s upscale).

In 2022 Jason Liberty alone received over 10 million in compensation. Doesn't seem like he, or the rest of the execs, are paying the piper as you put it.

[orville99]

47 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

D, D+, and P perks.  Does anyone really believe that these perks are “free?”

Only if you zero out the ~$200,000 it cost us to get to Pinnacle😇

[firefly333]

Are there any lines that include wifi in the cruise price? That's the one thing I really miss on other lines, my free included D+ perk. I really enjoyed my 14 day journey cruise on carnival but wifi was over $250 even ahead of time.

[ILCTCRUISER]

4 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Only if you zero out the ~$200,000 it cost us to get to Pinnacle😇

We only “pursued” one loyalty level - Diamond.   What was there to pursue given you only need 80 points for Diamond!  Getting to D+ was nice but what did we really get for it?  Two Hershey bars and a Coke?

[OCSC Mike]

13 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Getting to D+ was nice but what did we really get for it?  Two Hershey bars and a Coke?

 

As a couple, I'm looking forward to our 2 additional free drinks per day, 2 BOGO specialty meals, and 2 more days of internet.

 

Not saying you should value the additional perks but I will.

[Engineroom Snipe]

1 hour ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

D, D+, and P perks.  Does anyone really believe that these perks are “free?”  They’re marketed as complimentary, but in the end everyone is paying for them including those who don’t receive them.

 

 

Another hot-topic that has not reared its ugly head for a while.

 

Just when I thought things were cooling down a bit on this thread.

 

Popcorn and beer on my CC tab.

 

😁

[Cooper30]

15 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

As a couple, I'm looking forward to our 2 additional free drinks per day, 2 BOGO specialty meals, and 2 more days of internet.

 

D+ is in sight for us even though we’re “cheating” on Royal a bit.  😁

 

We’re looking forward to the same things. 

Edited March 3 by Cooper30

[Biker19]

42 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Are there any lines that include wifi in the cruise price?

 Virgin. 

[ReneeFLL]

On 2/29/2024 at 7:41 PM, Hoopster95 said:

…I am now focusing mostly on bucket list locales or one of a kind itineraries (ie. I'm on Jewel in May for her final Arctic Circle & Norway cruise with an incredible itinerary likely never again to be repeated). 

 

3 hours ago, Hoopster95 said:

 

I'm May 30.... I have a great itinerary coming up:

Voyager May 16-27 Barcelona - Athens, 2 days in Athens, 1 day in Amsterdam, then board Jewel for this Arctic Circle sailing. 😃

Ok, you had me confused when you said you were on Jewel’s final Arctic Circle and Norway cruise in May, since we are also on the Arctic Circle and Norway cruise in August. The only difference is a few different ports.

[lovesthebeach2]

I was thinking that possibly Royal’s strategy for all the short 3 and 4 day “weekend cruises” they’re focusing on will make more money for them because beverage packages and wifi looks better (cheaper) on a 3 day cruise than a 7 day cruise, and they’ll sell more on them.

 

PLUS raising the prices for 7 day cruises that based on this thread looks like seasoned cruisers that get all the extra “loyalty perks” are considering branching out to other lines, they’ll be saving a bunch of $$ for all the Drinks, wifi, BOGO dinners,  they don’t have to give to us loyal cruisers..

 

its a WIN WIN for Royal…………for now.

[ReneeFLL]

1 hour ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

We only “pursued” one loyalty level - Diamond.   What was there to pursue given you only need 80 points for Diamond!  Getting to D+ was nice but what did we really get for it?  Two Hershey bars and a Coke?

You got to enjoy the additional cruises that it took to get to D+.

[island lady]

17 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

If we have to pay those prices, we want a better cruiseline,  so we still will cruise, but for now we’re looking at Silversea. Yes, it’s a bit higher than Royal suites, but an upscale line and being a Royal company, we can still get the shareholder credit, although since everything is included, it will be hard to decide how to use it,🤷🏼‍♀️

 

We are also very interested in Silversea.  

[island lady]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

Only if you zero out the ~$200,000 it cost us to get to Pinnacle😇

 

I DON'T want to know.  😄  😄  

[island lady]

2 hours ago, Engineroom Snipe said:

 

Another hot-topic that has not reared its ugly head for a while.

 

Just when I thought things were cooling down a bit on this thread.

 

Popcorn and beer on my CC tab.

 

😁

 

You beat me to it.  😄  

[ILCTCRUISER]

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

You got to enjoy the additional cruises that it took to get to D+.

Very true.  We did enjoy them.  And, then, we could have cruised another line and enjoyed those cruises.  Becoming D+ just happened.  Yes, we knew that we’d become D+ following a certain cruise but we weren’t taking the cruise to move up a level. We’re also elite on Princess.

[ILCTCRUISER]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

As a couple, I'm looking forward to our 2 additional free drinks per day, 2 BOGO specialty meals, and 2 more days of internet.

 

Not saying you should value the additional perks but I will.

We’ll enjoy them as we always have.  Enjoying them is one thing.  Their value is another.  They’re not free.  @orville99 suggests it was roughly $200K in cruises to reach P.  OK.  I never kept track of our total $$$ spent with RCL.  But we will also pay for them when we make final payment on our upcoming cruises.  The folks at RCL Sales and Marketing look at all costs when putting together their pricing models.  Even the pennies on the dollar that make up the cost of a free drink.  One penny of each dollar is 1 percent of margin, and those people know their jobs (and bonuses) depend upon meeting budgets and margins.

[orville99]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

I DON'T want to know.  😄  😄  

It is only money. Memories, however, are priceless.😇

[notscb]

18 hours ago, pcur said:

I'm a solo cruiser now,

I'm surprised that you're not considering leaving Royal.

 

I'm often a solo cruiser and found a post-covid 4 night cruise on Freedom for $326 for an oceanview room at the front of the ship. Fast forward to the exact same cruise a year later and its nearly $750.

 

Royal isn't trying to cater to the solo cruise market, and there's a certain weekend cruiser who built his channel on Royal as a solo cruiser who also has had to change his model because RCL has been getting so expensive for solo cruisers.

 

I've been cruising on Carnival since my first Royal cruise- and even though I still try to go for Royal and price it out, they just aren't doing enough to earn my business over their competitors (price wise).

[OCSC Mike]

5 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

We’ll enjoy them as we always have.

 

Good to hear. You made it sound like you weren't getting anything you valued at D+ since you referred to them as "Two Hershey bars and a Coke." Maybe I just took it wrong.

 

I have no interest in breaking down the dollar value of various perks.

[ILCTCRUISER]

1 hour ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

 

its a WIN WIN for Royal…………for now.

Two scenarios.  A lounge with 60 cruisers having a few drinks and paying for them.  Or. A lounge with 60 cruisers having a few drinks but half of them are members of a loyalty program and are not being charged for the drinks.  If you “owned” the cruise line which would you rather have?  I think that’s why RCL really pushes the 3-4 day cruises.  And then there’s Coco Cay!  Talk about a cash cow in the making!  No wonder RCG also has X stopping there.

[island lady]

15 minutes ago, orville99 said:

It is only money. Memories, however, are priceless.😇

 

Definitely agree...those 2 quarter cruises we just invested in on Serenade....ouch.  😉  But indeed we adored our adventure for first quarter and can't wait to rejoin in Barcelona for the fourth quarter.  🙂  

 

Was nice being back on Wonder again last week...but just not even close to the same thing.  

[Anton]

1 minute ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Two scenarios.  A lounge with 60 cruisers having a few drinks and paying for them.  Or. A lounge with 60 cruisers having a few drinks but half of them are members of a loyalty program and are not being charged for the drinks.  If you “owned” the cruise line which would you rather have?  I think that’s why RCL really pushes the 3-4 day cruises.  And then there’s Coco Cay!  Talk about a cash cow in the making!  No wonder RCG also has X stopping there.

Every time they have a President’s cruise I think about how little money the bar department is making with the thousands of C&A drinks being poured every day.  As for Coco Cay, I hope a hurricane never flattens the cash cow.  The shrieking coming from the executive floor at Miami headquarters could probably be heard for miles.