Pay for CruiseCal.com?

[shark Fan]

Brian, good luck on your new plan for the site. I enjoyed visiting it but will not be able to anymore.:(

[Case1096]

Charging and still posting ads, what a real scam. Either be a free site with ads or a pay site with no ads. Useful info, but not useful enough to pay for.

[YOW]

A VAST majority of the information we seek out on the internet is FREE.

 

The ONLY site I pay any $ to (annually) is SMUGMUG, and I post pictures (here on CC) several times a week linking to my SMUGMUG page. I use it a lot, thus I can easily justify the expense.

 

Tom

 

Hear here, Tom-n-Cheryl. Smugmug is my one justified online expense annually.

 

And for the record, last month I used a site for a certain Caribbean destination, found that its services were invaluable, and made a donation via PayPal. I think if the donation link is more prominent, and the site has a 'free' registration with emails to members that also encourage donations, this would be more successful. That, or a one-time fee for registration. Just my $.02 worth.

[BonnieVA]

New Pricing Structure!!!! –

Due to overwhelming response we have a new pricing structure

- A Month to Month subscription is $3 per month.

- A Yearly subscription is $24.99

- A 2 Year subscription is $49.98

These subscriptions automatically renewed but can be cancelled at any time.

[gypsyrose]

That's a much better deal. I would definitely pay $3 before a cruise to see how crowded a port will be. Thank goodness I had already checked on my upcoming cruise:D I think he has a wonderful site and I know it had to be time consuming for him, just think he jumped a little too high w/ the $24.99 per year. At least he has seen the error of his ways;)

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

How about that guys... we are "overwhelming" !! :D

 

... and Brian - I think something in the mid/upper $30 range (based solely on what you desire for your 1 year plan) might entice people to go for the two year plan over the 1 year. People generally

expect some type of discount for buying in "bulk".

 

Tom

[airhead22]

I would gladly pay a reasonable one time fee, or a lower yearly fee, but his rates are just too much. I did not realize cruisedeckplans had stolen photos, but I did join and like the site. The rate they pay to submit photos is not worth the trouble, so now I just hit one of the photo sites and do a search.

If a better fee is offered for cc, I will join.

[denb]

Almost every picture on the site was stolen from other websites like Webshots, so it's real cheap to operate.

Some of mine are out there, too. Don't know if they stole them themselves or someone else sold the pics to them. Lesson learned about posting pics and/or making them available on a web site. I use cruisestateroom.com all the time though, and don't regret paying the small one time fee.

[cusyl]

Almost every picture on the site was stolen from other websites like Webshots, so it's real cheap to operate. :rolleyes:

How do you know this? All the pictures I have submitted I have taken myself in cabins that I have been booked in. :rolleyes:

[denb]

I know mine were stolen, because they're on the site and I didn't sell them to them. Who stole them I don't know. Like I said, not a big deal for me, just a lesson learned.

[happysinglemom]

If you can't afford $24.99 per year, why would you even care where all the cruise ships are currently?

 

I could easily afford it. But I surely don't care where the other ships are. I can't imagine needing that information. So I guess for those that want/need it, they will pay. :rolleyes:

[sea_u_onboard]

Some suggested the PayPal option - but if I remember everything I agreed to when I signed up for Google ads you can not direct anyone towards clicking the ads and you can't solicit money for your site. I could be wrong and maybe I'm missing out on a money making operation (:D ) but I don't think it would fly with them.

[gazingm42]

I think the guy wants help to pay the bills on the site. But

start with donations and ads, which I believe he already had.

 

But $3.00 a month for this info. You got to be kidding me. I can

live without the info. There some other methods to find the info, not

as easy.

[popcorngal]

Almost every picture on the site was stolen from other websites like Webshots, so it's real cheap to operate. :rolleyes:

 

Yep, a bunch of ours were ripped off too. Kinda gives you a weird feeling to go on that site and see your own photos on there!:eek:

 

I wish you well Brian and have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated your hard work and dedication.

[Fessler]

I can see an argument that professionals might pay for this kind of thing. Heck, lots of travel agents pay $75/year for the Cruise Week newsletter.

 

The problem is, though, that I think those professionals generally have access to SABRE or Amadeus or Revelex networks -- which give them info not just on schedules but also prices and availability.

 

So, he's got an interesting problem: he's priced too high for most personal users, and most professionals already have what he's selling.

 

Ah well, we are all free to hang by our own petards.

[Pegs222]

:mad: I just saw that too about now charging for us to view the ports and ships. Thats crazy. I hope knowone joins and maybe it will go back to being free!!

 

Why shouldn't they charge? It is very costly to run a site. I would like to see you put up a site and see how costly it is then maybe you would not be so quick to judge those that do charge.

[Fessler]

Yep, he took quite a few of mine without asking. When I approached him about it, he banned me from that site. Real slick guy.

If you've been ripped off, I'd encourage you to file a complaint with Google here:

http://www.google.com/dmca.html

 

It's free and, if enough people complain, Google may just ban the site. Cutting off traffic from Google is, of course, a major penalty.

[TPKeller]

Yep, he took quite a few of mine without asking. When I approached him about it, he banned me from that site. Real slick guy.

It looks to me like you have to be a paying member to even see the photos... that's a sure way to keep the rightful owners from finding out their property has been stolen...

 

Theron

[TPKeller]

I don't expect Brian will care to comment here on how well his new business model is going.

 

I had a thought... if it turns out that his new system isn't providing all the answers he was looking for, he might consider implementing a solution that allows non-paying-users to have access to 10 or 14 days worth of information, while granting his new paying customers access to the full set of data.

 

This way, the majority of casual users who just want to see what other ships they will be in port with during their imminent cruise will be happy, as well as the professional customer who needs the full data and finds it worth the money. Comments here seem to indicate that a few may be willing to pay a one-month fee of $3, but the practicality of payment (as well as the default recurring charge) will keep the vast majority of those with good intentions away.

 

I'm sure that wouldn't make everyone happy, but it might bring some back. I don't know if he's eliminated the ads from the new site, but he could also easily keep the ads for this scaled down free version as well. Just some thoughts.

 

Theron

[donaldsc]

If enough people feel the info is worth the cost, the charge will continue. If not, either the charge will disappear or the site will disappear.

 

Basic economics.

 

DON

[TPKeller]

If enough people feel the info is worth the cost, the charge will continue. If not, either the charge will disappear or the site will disappear.

 

Basic economics.

 

DON

This could certainly be true... however there are plenty of site of all kinds that offer limited services for free, and charge money for full access. I don't expect it will happen, but in the chance that his new model isn't working out, I thought it was worth a mention. :)

 

Theron

[cusyl]

It looks to me like you have to be a paying member to even see the photos... that's a sure way to keep the rightful owners from finding out their property has been stolen...

 

Theron

You DO have to be a member to see the photos. Also, the instructions are that you have to post them on a website like Webshots for him to accept the pictures and pay you for them.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Why shouldn't they charge? It is very costly to run a site. I would like to see you put up a site and see how costly it is then maybe you would not be so quick to judge those that do charge.

 

OK I'll give it a shot and get back to you.

 

Bill

[EllieD]

Wow...Didn't know cruisecal had started charging. I got the same information for free at http://www.porttime.com.

[futaba951]

Wow...Didn't know cruisecal had started charging. I got the same information for free at http://www.porttime.com.

 

I think you have just been promoted to hero status. :)