Sticker Shock

[raymac46]

Just looked at the costs for Zenith - Bermuda in 2007 and was surprised to see that the list prices on Celebrity's website are more than double what we paid for the Sept 30/06 cruise. Is this normal? Usually we save by booking ahead.

[ocngypz]

Rates were lower at one point, but then they went sky high. Everyone is shaking their heads in disbelief.

[Cachecara]

I noticed this also. I did Zenith to Bermuda in 05, was supposed to do it in 06--we got diverted due to the hurricane that did hit, so thought about 07.

Now if we go, it will definitely be a last minute thing. No way am I paying those prices! Bermuda was great. It was especially great for those prices on Zenith, but not at the inflated price listed. The price currently listed for an inside room is $100 less for ONE, than the price we paid both previous years for BOTH of us for a category 4!!!!

Should be very interesting.

[ECCruise]

The April 28th sailing is approaching THREE TIMES what we paid in April of this year. Same sailing, same category, same cabin. We did not book last minute (4+ months in advance) and paid the then current rack rate. When I first saw these prices I thought "computer glitch". That was 3 weeks ago, so obviously X thinks they can find folks willing to ante up nearly $4000 for an obstructed view cabin very early in the season.

[Sky Sweet]

Rates were lower at one point, but then they went sky high. Everyone is shaking their heads in disbelief.

 

Hi Ocngypz :)

 

Have the resorts in Bermuda raised their prices, as well? I am curious because I know quite a few people who think the Zenith is a good deal, even though they don't love the ship, because it costs so much less than staying at a resort in Bermuda. If that is no longer the case, people who feel this way will probably stay at a resort instead.

[Cachecara]

I just took a peek at the RCI site looking at prices for Empress to Bermuda. I thought that since RCI and X are under same ownership, the cruises might be comparable in price. Wrong. Far more reasonable to take Empress for 7 nights than Zenith. With the same calaber of rooms Empress would come out $1000 less on the same date. This has me totally perplexed.

I can see prices going up, but 07 would cost us over twice as much as 06 and 05. :confused:

[TWELVEOHONE]

Just looked at the costs for Zenith - Bermuda in 2007 and was surprised to see that the list prices on Celebrity's website are more than double what we paid for the Sept 30/06 cruise. Is this normal? Usually we save by booking ahead.

 

Cannot gurantee this but my sources tell me that the Zenith will be sold and they raised the price to keep from booking to many cabins.

[ECCruise]

Cannot gurantee this but my sources tell me that the Zenith will be sold and they raised the price to keep from booking to many cabins.

 

That, unfortunately, makes sense. You would have to REALLY want to go to Bermuda and REALLY want to go on Zenith and REALLY want to sail out of Bayonne to pay those prices.

[Betty4]

We just got home from the Zenith today. While in St. George, about 10 men who I believe to be engineers/architects were all over the ship. At one point I ended up walking right behind them as I was going to my stateroom on 10. It was then that I heard the leader of the group talking about where the balconies were going. THey were not wearing ID tags of any kind and were in plain clothes. They were all carrying notebooks and a few had architectural drawings under their arms (One gentleman with the group opened his up and spread it out on a table just inside the empty Fleet Bar). Something is going on with Zenith. I am hoping Celebrity is upgrading her, and NOT selling to another party. She is the perfect size and having seen Empress(?) of the Seas docked at the dockyards while we were there, I would only travel to Bermuda via a cruise if we can dock in Hamilton and St. George. The Dockyards are depressing IMHO and highly inconvenient.

[lucky white heather]

While dining on the Captain's table aboard TA on ML earlier this year I heard another guest on the table telling her neighbour at table that Zenith was to be sold!

Maybe this is coming true?????

[Andy]

Cannot gurantee this but my sources tell me that the Zenith will be sold and they raised the price to keep from booking to many cabins.

 

Hi Everyone !

 

Here is my take on this. When Celebrity jacks up the prices to unreasonable numbers, it typically means something is up. Here are 2 possibilities.

 

1. The ship will be drydocked, and hopefully they will do a Century type upgrade.

 

2. Rumors have been around for the past 18 months that Zenith will be sold. I do not think she will be sold, but I do think she might be transferred to Pullmantur, which Royal Caribbean just purchased.

 

However, option 2 may not be bad news for those of us who love Celebrity. I feel that Zenith may go to Pullmantur, as part of an EXCHANGE. I am thinking that Royal Caribbean will also transfer Empress of the Seas, along with Zenith to Pullmantur, and Celebrity will get the 2 R-Class ships that Pullmantur currently owns. The R-Class ships are roughly 30,000 tons each.

 

The 2 R-Class ships coming to Celebrity, would make a TON of sense. They are newer, have balconies, and are a perfect option for Bermuda, and some exotic itineraries. Many Celebrity passengers are craving exotic itineraries, and the 2 R-Class ships would allow it to happen !

 

So, if option 2 happens, we would lose Zenith, and get 2 R-Class ships back in exchange. This would be a perfect way to add some capacity until the Solstice Class is ready. Of course, this is all speculation, but if you connect the dots, this makes a lot of sense. I think there is at least a chance of this happening.

 

Stay Tuned !

[shoreless]

We just got home from the Zenith today. While in St. George, about 10 men who I believe to be engineers/architects were all over the ship. At one point I ended up walking right behind them as I was going to my stateroom on 10. It was then that I heard the leader of the group talking about where the balconies were going. THey were not wearing ID tags of any kind and were in plain clothes. They were all carrying notebooks and a few had architectural drawings under their arms (One gentleman with the group opened his up and spread it out on a table just inside the empty Fleet Bar). Something is going on with Zenith. I am hoping Celebrity is upgrading her, and NOT selling to another party. She is the perfect size and having seen Empress(?) of the Seas docked at the dockyards while we were there, I would only travel to Bermuda via a cruise if we can dock in Hamilton and St. George. The Dockyards are depressing IMHO and highly inconvenient.

 

I think some of the larger Royal Caribbean ships go to the Dockyards, but, from everything I've read here and on the Royal Caribbean site, the Empress goes to Hamilton and St. George. I certainly hope that I'm correct because we sail on her from Norfolk on April 28, 2007.:)

[Betty4]

I honestly do not recall which RCI ship one was in front of us in Hamilton and which one was docked at the dockyards. It could have been Empress - it was something "of the seas". My point is that IMHO, the Dockyards seem desolate and not at all charming. If that were my first impression of Bermuda, I would have been highly disappointed. Docking in St. George and Hamilton is a completely different experience.

[raymac46]

Interesting thoughts and thanks for all the comments.

BTW it was Explorer of the Seas that was docked at King's Wharf (Dockyard). The Empress of the Seas sailed into Hamilton on Tuesday when we were there. I think she spent Monday in St. George.

[ocngypz]

Hi Ocngypz :)

 

Have the resorts in Bermuda raised their prices, as well? I am curious because I know quite a few people who think the Zenith is a good deal, even though they don't love the ship, because it costs so much less than staying at a resort in Bermuda. If that is no longer the case, people who feel this way will probably stay at a resort instead.

 

 

Hi Sweet:

 

No, the hotels have not raised their prices. And until we hear to the contrary FROM Celebrity, Zenith is sailing her entire 07 season.

[fjb3cpa]

Interesting thoughts and thanks for all the comments.

BTW it was Explorer of the Seas that was docked at King's Wharf (Dockyard). The Empress of the Seas sailed into Hamilton on Tuesday when we were there. I think she spent Monday in St. George.

 

While we were in Bermuda last week the Explorer was at the Dockyards, we were on the Zenith in Hamilton from 9 AM Monday until 7 AM Wednesday, the Empress moved into Hamilton on Tuesday afternoon (from St. George, I presume), while a Norwegian ship passed us on our trip from Hamilton to St. George about 8 AM Wednesday morning. I did not see room for 2 ships at St. George, so this leaves me a little confused as to whether NCL and the Empress were in St. George at the same time. I also hear that the NCL Crown Princess bypassed Bermuda due to high winds and skipped its scheduled stop at the Dockyards.

 

Jim

[Charles4515]

While we were in Bermuda last week the Explorer was at the Dockyards, we were on the Zenith in Hamilton from 9 AM Monday until 7 AM Wednesday, the Empress moved into Hamilton on Tuesday afternoon (from St. George, I presume), while a Norwegian ship passed us on our trip from Hamilton to St. George about 8 AM Wednesday morning. I did not see room for 2 ships at St. George, so this leaves me a little confused as to whether NCL and the Empress were in St. George at the same time. I also hear that the NCL Crown Princess bypassed Bermuda due to high winds and skipped its scheduled stop at the Dockyards.

 

Jim

 

The ship you passed was the NCL Crown coming from St. George on the way to Hamilton to take the dock Zenith just vacated in Hamilton. I.E. the two ships switched places.

 

There are two docks in St. George but NCL Majesty stays all week at one of them.

 

The ship that bypassed Bermuda was the Princess ship Crown Princess.

 

Here is how it worked. Zenith left New York on Saturday and arrived at Hamilton on Monday.

 

Empress of the Seas left Phladelphia on Saturday and arrived at St. George on Monday.

 

Empress of the Seas left St. George on Tuesday morning and moved to the second dock at Hamilton.

 

NCL Crown which left New York on Sunday arrives at St. George on Tuesday morning and docks at the dock vacated by Empress of the Seas.

 

Zenith leaves Hamilton Wednesday morning for St. George and Crown leaves St. George for Hamilton.

[Captain Cosmo]

I think Host Andy is probably correct in his assessment of this situation. But if Celebrity is even considering selling or transferring or drydocking the Zenith, why list it for bookings, even at an inflated price? This seems patently dishonest and no doubt will lead to more disappointed customers. This is exactly why people are upset with X - they can't seem to do anything openly or definitively. If I did want to go on the Zenith to Bermuda out of Bayonne than I would expect that to be what X gives me if I choose to book it. Looks like X never gets tired of keeping its passengers on their toes...

[MaryJean56]

We booked a 5/5/07 cruise to Bermuda on the Zenith while onboard the Explorer of the Seas on a 5-day cruise to Bermuda in Sep. Just a few short weeks later I noticed the prices had just about doubled when friends of ours tried to book. I have never seen anything like it and wondered what was going on too.

 

We have been on 3 prior cruises to Bermuda where the ships docked in St Georges & Hamilton and much preferred them to docking in the Dockyard like we just did on the Explorer. You sure don't get the same experience docking out there. There really are many buses and ferries that take you to St Georges & Hamilton, but it just isn't as nice and anyone that had not been to Bermuda before surely didn't have the same magical experience that we had with our first cruise to Bermuda. We are really looking forward to our cruise on the Zenith because it does go into Hamilton and St Georges and they can keep the big ships with the verandas. I will be very upset if Celebrity changes the 2007 schedule for the Zenith.

[superjerryw]

Have the resorts in Bermuda raised their prices, as well? I am curious because I know quite a few people who think the Zenith is a good deal, even though they don't love the ship, because it costs so much less than staying at a resort in Bermuda. If that is no longer the case, people who feel this way will probably stay at a resort instead.

 

That was the reason that we did the Zenith to Bermuda a couple of months ago. For the price of a 4 night stay in a hotel in Bermuda without food we were able to do a 7 night cruise on the Zenith with everything included.

[Cachecara]

I just did a recent comparison to land vacations in Bermuda and it didn't seem like resorts/hotels had gone up significantly in the last year. It seams most still offer nights in the 300+ range(that includes breakfast and tea).

I am still mystified about X's price increase vs RCI keeping it's prices to Bermuda still in the last year's ballpark. Why the difference in two being both are under the same ownership umbrella.:confused:

[Sky Sweet]

I just did a recent comparison to land vacations in Bermuda and it didn't seem like resorts/hotels had gone up significantly in the last year. It seams most still offer nights in the 300+ range(that includes breakfast and tea).

I am still mystified about X's price increase vs RCI keeping it's prices to Bermuda still in the last year's ballpark. Why the difference in two being both are under the same ownership umbrella.:confused:

 

Hi Cachecara :)

 

Is it possible that Celebrity was initially concerned about competition from newer ships so they kept their Bermuda prices low for the past few years. Now that they realize they have a loyal client base who would rather sail to Bermuda on an old ship which lacks modern amenities than a much newer one that docks in a less convenient area, it appears they are not afraid of losing business by raising their prices.

[ECCruise]

That was the reason that we did the Zenith to Bermuda a couple of months ago. For the price of a 4 night stay in a hotel in Bermuda without food we were able to do a 7 night cruise on the Zenith with everything included.

 

Not next year!

[Andy]

Hi Cachecara :)

 

Is it possible that Celebrity was initially concerned about competition from newer ships so they kept their Bermuda prices low for the past few years. Now that they realize they have a loyal client base who would rather sail to Bermuda on an old ship which lacks modern amenities than a much newer one that docks in a less convenient area, it appears they are not afraid of losing business by raising their prices.

 

Hi Sky !

 

I have to say that's unlikely, as the prices jumped up several fold, practically overnight. Celebrity does not do this, unless there is a good reason. It's possible they booked some groups and the bookings are strong, but I am still confident that's not the case either.

 

I continue to feel that some important decisions are being made about Zenith as to her being upgraded or transferred to Pullmantur, and they would rather not fill up the ship, only to disappoint passengers.

 

Of course, I may be wrong about this, but I still feel another shoe is to drop, and likely sooner rather than later. Stay Tuned !

[fjb3cpa]

Hi Cachecara :)

 

Is it possible that Celebrity was initially concerned about competition from newer ships so they kept their Bermuda prices low for the past few years. Now that they realize they have a loyal client base who would rather sail to Bermuda on an old ship which lacks modern amenities than a much newer one that docks in a less convenient area, it appears they are not afraid of losing business by raising their prices.

 

 

I am wondering myself if this might be the case - the Celebrity web-site already claims that the 6/23/07 sailing is already sold out (charter, perhaps) and all 6/30/07 inside cabins are already gone. Perhaps I should lock up a spot on the Empress for next October before those prices skyrocket.

 

Jim