Poll: What would you pay extra for?

[Erica@cruisecritic]

Cruising may be an affordable vacation, especially with this year's current crop of deals, but the lines are starting to add fees for formerly free amenities. Case in point -- Royal Caribbean recently announced a new $3.95 surcharge on all late-night room service orders, when in-room dining at any hour on that line used to be free of charge.

 

With new fees popping up everywhere, we wonder just what cruise travelers are willing to pay for...and what's not worth even a couple of bucks. Please vote in our poll and let us know which of these currently free privileges you'd pay for should the cruise lines start charging for the services. Be sure to post your opinions, too!

Edited January 6, 2009 by Erica@cruisecritic

[cb at sea]

That $3.95 included (or IS) the tip---and that's about what I'd tip anyway (if I were ever to order food that late at night!!!) so that one doesn't bother me.

 

I guess (since we're used to it) paying for alcohol isn't a big deal.

 

The specialty restaurant's food, however, used to be what they served in the dining room....If folks would stop utilizing this, perhaps they'd bring back the better offerings into the dining room!

 

I don't know what I'd pay extra for that we don't pay for now....I mean, I won't pay for Ben and Jerry's when I can buy it at the grocery store... I don't do the "fancy" coffees...

[ILoveScotland]

My answer is None of the Above, because IMHO none of the options are worth extra money. Actually I can't think of anything I'd pay extra to have.

[tip]

My answer is None of the Above, because IMHO none of the options are worth extra money. Actually I can't think of anything I'd pay extra to have.

 

You are right on target. Do not nickel and dime me.

[ferretface]

I agree with the above. We won't pay extra for the "fancy" desserts or coffee's. This will be our 1st cruise with a speciality restaurant and we are planning on trying it though. We rarely even use the cruise lines excursions.

 

Phyllis

[Sheffie]

None of the above. Also, we can already get multiple entrees and desserts w/o an extra charge. We have never tried the specialty restaurants; we like the regular ones just fine.

[phish tales]

this one is not on your list, but i would pay an extra $5.00 per day to have the concierge lounge open till 10pm each evening instead of 8:30pm:):):)

[Donray]

None of these.

So those that can afford it get the good seats in the show and by the pool.

Why not just make different passenger classes? We could have the inside cabin class that can only eat in buffet, lounge chairs on other than the pool deck, and would be limited to the last few row and those sets for the show that are behind posts, and of course bring their own soap. Room service every third day.

The suite class would get the best seats at dinning, the show, and pool. Room service three times a day. The best food would be reserved for this class.

The rest would be in the middle class and as usual, get whatever is left over.

[paul929207]

I did not see anything on the poll list that I would pay for.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I didn't vote as some of the items we already get as a full suite passenger on HAL.

The other items like lounge chairs, etc. -- I wouldn;t pay to rent one of them.

[uppitycats]

I didn't see anything on the list that I'd pay for. It would be easier for me to list the things I'd rather not pay for:

 

use of the pool (don't swim, don't sunbathe, don't use lounge chairs)

use of casino

use of theaters (don't attend any of the shows, generally. Sometimes

some of the educational offerings are good.)

art auctions

bingo, and other games

kid programming (don't have kids)

fancy shops (I do think a "sundries" store is useful...extra toiletries,

batteries, stuff-I-forgot kind of shop)

[cruiserbryce]

none of them are really things that I would want enough to pay extra for. I suppose since there are nights when I enjoy extra items in the DR I would possible pay a little for that if the option of having it was not included

[rcclismyfavone]

None of the above, IMHO we are already paying for eveything that is listed but they just don't list it in fear of chasing people away. Right now cruising is the most affordable vacation so if they start charging extra for any of the above list I'm sure people will find other ways to vacation. ;)

[fun*n*sun]

None of the above. One of the appeals of cruising is not having to worry about paying extras. The ability, if one wishes, to have this entree with a small plate of that other entree on the side and both those appetizers please and not worrying about the cost. You are free to experiment and if you don't like one entree/salad/dessert you can just order another without worrying about the cost. You can then take in a show or not however you feel at the time, not having to worry about having already paid for a ticket and not using it.

 

One of the things people seem to dislike about cruising lately is the nickel and diming. I think the cruise lines would be smarter to stop adding costs and please their customers rather than adding more and driving them away.

[firefly333]

Where is the vote for "none of the above"

[agabbymama]

I would not pay extra for any of the things you have listed. The same as I don't go to the Specialty Restaurants. What they serve in the Main Dining room, Lido or Pizza or Hamburgers is fine for me. I've paid for these amenities included in the price of the cruise. I won't be paying extra for any of them.

 

Photos have even gotten outrageous. Celebrity cruise in '06 spent $150 on photos. Princess cruise in '08 only spent $40. When they only print 8x10s so you are forced to pay $25 per picture, we decided we didn't need that many this trip. There was one 6x9 of our arrival in Kusadasi that we purchased for $14.99 plus the 1 formal photo for $25. We certainly didn't buy one for each of the 10 ports we visited, as we

have in the past.

[angiedora]

Where is the vote for "none of the above"

I agree, None of the above, so I voted something else.

Maybe if they offered a chance to pilot the boat. :)

[LHT28]

none of the above

[pbxtech]

None of he above. We have to budget as it is for cruise. I dont want to worry everytime I turn around that there is another charge. Starting to be to much like a bank

[grneyedmustang]

I also agree with none of the above. I'm tired of companies nickel and diming us to death. Banks, airlines (Do you REALLY expect me to travel without baggage?), etc. If the money is that big a deal, then just include it in the price so I can pay for it and get it over with - for example, go ahead and charge me the extra $20 for my bags when I buy the ticket and just include it in the price - but don't nickel and dime me!

[kitty9]

Once the cruise industry gets the idea that passengers would follow like lambs and start paying for stupid things, you start the slippery slope. I will not pay for anything on that list and I don't want the cruise industry to even begin to think about any of that idiocy.

[grandmato4]

Another I couldn't vote because there was nothing on the list that I would pay extra for on a cruise nor could I think of anything at the moment.

 

The more items that become a pay for fee service that have traditionally been included in the cost of a cruise the less likely we will be to cruise which I find very sad. While we don't need an entirely all inclusive cruise the basic concept of it being mostly all inclusive is part of what makes it so appealing. The more the cruiselines take that concept away the more they will continue to loose the very customers that have supported them through many years and yes, they will find other passengers to take their place but many of those people will be the same type of people we seem to see more and more of lately that have no understanding nor desire to understand that mother nature has a lot to do with cruising and there is no and can not be any guarentee that the cruise one has booked will reach all of its ports or have smooth sailing or leave port or arrive back in port on time.

 

I don't have a problem with the addition of truly new concepts being charged a fee when crusing as long as along the way there were also some new concepts that didn't charge extra. Just DON"T continue the fast growing trend to charge for what was once included and paid for in the cruise cost.

Edited January 7, 2009 by grandmato4

[TexasHorseLady]

I think I would be willing to pay extra for front row seats to a show, if it was a show I really wanted to see.

[TexasHorseLady]

duplicate post...silly computer!

Edited January 7, 2009 by TexasHorseLady

[valancysnaith]

I would like to see the option of buying a printable CD of photos that are taken around the cruise ship. I don't really need another friggin 8x10 of my family/friends to clutter up the hallways but i would like the option of printing different sizes of some of the pictures. I would pay 40 bucks say for a CD that had a number (40?30?20?10? - who knows... we don't take that many good pictures!) of my choosing. Although we generally try to skip all of the photo queues sometimes it is good to have one or two momentos.