Pricing on NCL Has Gotten Outrageous

[complawyer]

well, we just booked the 21 day cruise from barcelona to capetown on the nov 5th ncl dawn sailing.

 

3 people, 2 bedroom suite $9900.

 

would you consider that a good deal?  last april we did 17 days on the star, rio to lisbon, again  2 bedroom suite (only 2 people) for $7,000.

 

remember, you are looking at the celebrity cruise ship. i have noticed that the upper class cabins are more expensive then similar ncl cabins, and their so called "suites" are equivalent to the ncl 

club balcony in sq. footage. 

 

so far i havent found any deals on any other lines, thatg match ncl's itineraries and prices.

 

but as my sainted grandmother once said "to each his own"

 

BTW, 8 years ago, most cruises were a hellova lot cheaper, compare with across the board todays prices

[WarfRatWA]

13 hours ago, PartyPlannerLady said:

 

Its called market equilibrium.  Pricing is set by the buyer and will settle to the point of maximum net income.

That is not my understanding of market equilibrium.  Equilibrium does not equal 'maximum net income'.  Equilibrium is a function of price and demand.  Equilibrium does not exist in cruising.  If anything the industry is in disequilibrium as there is an imbalance between supply and demand.  The market will naturally push toward equilibrium which means prices are still too low.  So either supply increases dramatically or demand drops dramatically.  I don't see that happening, so prices will have to rise to achieve that equilibrium.

 

I could wrong, as this is based on me staying at a Holiday Inn express last night.  Perhaps someone with training could chime in.

[JamieLogical]

6 hours ago, complawyer said:

well, we just booked the 21 day cruise from barcelona to capetown on the nov 5th ncl dawn sailing.

 

3 people, 2 bedroom suite $9900.

 

would you consider that a good deal?  last april we did 17 days on the star, rio to lisbon, again  2 bedroom suite (only 2 people) for $7,000.

 

remember, you are looking at the celebrity cruise ship. i have noticed that the upper class cabins are more expensive then similar ncl cabins, and their so called "suites" are equivalent to the ncl 

club balcony in sq. footage. 

 

so far i havent found any deals on any other lines, thatg match ncl's itineraries and prices.

 

but as my sainted grandmother once said "to each his own"

 

BTW, 8 years ago, most cruises were a hellova lot cheaper, compare with across the board todays prices

 

I don't know anything about suite pricing, so can't comment on whether it is a good deal or not. I don't have the kind of money to consider sailing in suites. As stated in my earlier posts, my market budget is always ~$150 per person per day with drinks, wifi, gratuities, and port fees/taxes, so obviously I am not going to get a suite for that kind of price on any line.

 

Edited August 2 by JamieLogical

[kirtihk]

8 hours ago, complawyer said:

well, we just booked the 21 day cruise from barcelona to capetown on the nov 5th ncl dawn sailing.

 

3 people, 2 bedroom suite $9900.

 

would you consider that a good deal?  last april we did 17 days on the star, rio to lisbon, again  2 bedroom suite (only 2 people) for $7,000.

 

remember, you are looking at the celebrity cruise ship. i have noticed that the upper class cabins are more expensive then similar ncl cabins, and their so called "suites" are equivalent to the ncl 

club balcony in sq. footage. 

 

so far i havent found any deals on any other lines, thatg match ncl's itineraries and prices.

 

but as my sainted grandmother once said "to each his own"

 

BTW, 8 years ago, most cruises were a hellova lot cheaper, compare with across the board todays prices

You think you would book the same 21-day, 3 people, 2 bedroom suite cruise for $2,500 (300% less) 8 years ago?  That would be around $25 (before port charge and tax) per day for 1st and 2nd (basically, free cruise).  I would live on such cruise year around - $27,000 total spending per year for a family of 3 (no house/rent needed, food purchase, car expenses, and more).

[Laszlo]

13 hours ago, kirtihk said:

Around 8 years ago we booked 12-day Great Barrier Reef cruise on Celebrity Solstice for $1,450 pp in Aqua balcony category (with Thermal Suites access and Blue restaurant).  At time I thought it was expensive.  Now, 12-day Asian cruise on Celebrity Millennium next March is around $6,000 pp (300% increase).  That’s nice!

Up until 8 years ago my wife and I could fly to Vegas from PHL, Stay at the Bellagio for 5 nights in a fountain view room.... Flights, Hotel and a 5 day car rental would cost us $1500-$1750. Now its $4200-$4800

[Ottawa_Cruiser]

So like you, @JamieLogical, we are former NCL cruisers as of now simply because you can't beat MSC for value and quality. I've cruised only three times with MSC (two Meraviglia, once on Virtuosa, third Meraviglia coming up on October 20th and it's a shame we are disembarking as you are embarking!).

 

When we sailed NCL in the Fall of 2022, we purchased CruiseNext certificates as we always did. What we didn't know was that MSC would home port in NYC. So, like you, my spouse and I priced out NCL cruises for May of next year. INSIDE cabins will easily run you $1,700pp with FAS, but in all honesty you're looking at more like $2Kpp. It's wild. Absolutely wild.

[JamieLogical]

On 7/30/2024 at 8:35 AM, JamieLogical said:

Good news! I was able to find a TA offering the Celebrity Silhouette sailing with a refundable deposit. It's still $900, which is pretty steep, but at least it is refundable. We were able to book a balcony for two with drinks, wifi, DSC, and port fees for $138.60 per person per day. I will likely go ahead and upgrade from the Basic to the Premium drinks package, which will bring it to $156.60 per person per day. A little over my $150 target, but probably worth it to get the premium drinks.

 

This sailing will net me 30 more points with the Captain's Club, which will put me to Elite (24 points away right now). Then I can match to Diamond on RCCL and maybe give them a shot later in 2025 or sometime in 2026.

 

This definitely means no NCL sailings in my near future with my next four sailings being on Princess, MSC, and Celebrity. I will be booked up through April/May of 2025 so the next dates I would be looking at would be September-ish of 2025.

 

I logged in today and Celebrity is having a "Flash Sale" on their drinks packages. I was able to snag an upgrade from Classic to Premium for $8.99 per person per day plus 20% gratuity. So that brings our total price per person per day for this sailing up to $149.39 per person per day. Still slightly below my target of $150 and now we will have the Premium Drink package!

[complawyer]

hey jaime, just curious, what's the square footage of the cabin you booked?

[JamieLogical]

23 minutes ago, complawyer said:

hey jaime, just curious, what's the square footage of the cabin you booked?

 

Cruise deck plans says 194 sq. ft. It's just a V2 on the Silhouette, if you want to look that up.

[complawyer]

no, i dont want to look it up, im perfectly happy booking on ncl.

 

i asked about the sq footage, just to compare apples to apples. your balcony is ever so smaller than the standard ncl balcony. not much smaller, but smaller nevertheless

 

and dear ottawa cruiser.. while  you may feel you cannot beat MSC for value ( i'd dispute that one) and quality, it doesnt come close to the choices around the world for ncl itineraries/ports of call!

[Oakman58]

On 8/1/2024 at 3:47 PM, complawyer said:

if you really think cruise prices have gotten outrageous, go out and try and buy a ford or a chevy!

 

I guess it depends on what car you buy.  My 2019 Chevy Equinox LT had a standard price of $27,200, my 2024 Equinox LT had a standard price of $29,495. That represents an increase from the 2019 of just 8.4%.  I don't think any cruise line could match such a reasonable price increase.

[Red-Sol]

On 7/30/2024 at 3:57 PM, ontheweb said:

I'll have to check with one of my brothers on that. He left for Buffalo in 1969 to go to college, and he still lives in that area.

 

Sounds like the definition of "Truckin' Up to Buffalo" 😉

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Red-Sol said:

 

Sounds like the definition of "Truckin' Up to Buffalo" 😉

Yeah, it does. And funny thing is tomorrow he's Truckin down here to pay a visit.

[davencl]

On 8/2/2024 at 5:28 AM, JamieLogical said:

 

 I don't have the kind of money to consider sailing in suites.

 

I suspect the way you're managing your finances today, someday you will be able to consider sailing in suites...

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 8/1/2024 at 10:29 PM, complawyer said:

BTW, 8 years ago, most cruises were a hellova lot cheaper, compare with across the board todays prices

I would suggest that it depends.  I have my May 20 Pearl cruise from AK confirmation from 2018 (not quite 8 years, but close).  Total out the door price for deck five steerage with (only) beverage package was $2,367.60.  I just priced a 2025 May 17 Encore AK cruise in deck 5 steerage with all the FAS and total is $2675.  That adds one specialty dining and it's on a newer/better(?) ship.  About a 2% annual increase.  Hardly "outrageous" for this sailor.😎

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I would suggest that it depends.  I have my May 20 Pearl cruise from AK confirmation from 2018 (not quite 8 years, but close).  Total out the door price for deck five steerage with (only) beverage package was $2,367.60.  I just priced a 2025 May 17 Encore AK cruise in deck 5 steerage with all the FAS and total is $2675.  That adds one specialty dining and it's on a newer/better(?) ship.  About a 2% annual increase.  Hardly "outrageous" for this sailor.😎

 

Was your 2018 sailing also in May?

[ChiefMateJRK]

1 hour ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Was your 2018 sailing also in May?

Yes.   It was in my post.  May 20, so I chose the closest new cruise for comparison.

[complawyer]

hey chief, nice to see you back and posting! still, 2018 was 6 years ago, before covid struck, and i'm sure things were slightly cheaper then.

 

all that being said, however,  whether or not something is a "good deal" is all subjective. i have now learned (although i have been aware of this in the past) that unless the cruise is one you really must take, a few days after final payment the prices go down considerably.  we just finished booking the 21 day barcelona to capetown this nov. 3 people, 2 bedroom suite ncl dawn, with our discounts, $9600. 21 days, all food and drinks included, 3 extra specialty dinners as well as 2 more for being diamond status, im very happy with this price. last year almost the same cruise was $21,000, and even before the final payment was due, it was still almost $15,000

[jennjess]

I'm glad I found this thread because NCL are pricing themselves out of consideration for me.

If I didn't already have a deposit paid for a cruise I couldn't go on, I would not be sailing with them again in October.  Deposits are never refundable in Europe.

I found both HAL and Celebrity to be cheaper for the itinerary I was looking at.

So this may well be the last NCL for me which is a shame as we are now platinum and I enjoy cruising with them.

[vswan]

7 hours ago, complawyer said:

we just finished booking the 21 day barcelona to capetown this nov. 3 people, 2 bedroom suite ncl dawn, with our discounts, $9600. 21 days, all food and drinks included, 3 extra specialty dinners as well as 2 more for being diamond status, im very happy with this price. last year almost the same cruise was $21,000, and even before the final payment was due, it was still almost $15,000

I had to do the math. At 3 people for 21 days that comes to just over $152 pp/pd with the FAS. I doubt if the gratuities on FAS, port charges/fees, and daily service charges are included in this price, but I think you got a fantastic deal for a suite.

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, vswan said:

I had to do the math. At 3 people for 21 days that comes to just over $152 pp/pd with the FAS. I doubt if the gratuities on FAS, port charges/fees, and daily service charges are included in this price, but I think you got a fantastic deal for a suite.

 

DSC alone for that sailing would have been $1260.

[graphicguy]

13 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I would suggest that it depends.  I have my May 20 Pearl cruise from AK confirmation from 2018 (not quite 8 years, but close).  Total out the door price for deck five steerage with (only) beverage package was $2,367.60.  I just priced a 2025 May 17 Encore AK cruise in deck 5 steerage with all the FAS and total is $2675.  That adds one specialty dining and it's on a newer/better(?) ship.  About a 2% annual increase.  Hardly "outrageous" for this sailor.😎

Great snag.  I think the point of this exercise, a little shopping goes a long way, not only with NCL, but all the cruise lines.

 

I can always seem to find a good deal on NCL.  I'm bound and determined to find one on Royal's new ships, but so far, no luck.  I keep searching and am confident eventually I'll find a deal.

 

Like you @ChiefMateJRK, I like those Alaska cruises early or late in the season.  Great deals there on NCL.  Same for sailing during hurricane season on NCL in the Caribbean.....or, sailing right after the little kiddies go back to school.

[graphicguy]

@complawyer...nice find on that 21 nighter.  

 

I did this exercise a little while ago and posted it here.  But, 10 years ago, the cruise fares I paid then vs now weren't all that different given the perks.

 

Last October, I sailed an 11 nighter in a 2BR Haven Suite on the Epic through the Mediterranean.  It was approx $4,600 all in, or thereabouts.  You get 10 more nites on yours.

[complawyer]

vswan... the price i listed included everything but the DSC

[complawyer]

just remember (and take into consideration) that i booked this cruise about a week after the final payment was due.  the down side was we had to pay the entire amount all at once.

 

the price did go down one more time, but by then, there was only one 2 bedroom left, aznd we needed the extra room.

 

so, if you want to chance it, wait a few days until final payment is due