tfred

one does have to look frequently. many people have to fit a schedule for work and that is that we are lucky - live in south Florida, retired, dont care about the itinerary and can choose any number or weeks in January or February It is harder to find equivalent prices in "luxury" lines ex Florida. Way less cruises to choose from with generally harder to get to embarkation ports.

That Skift article pretty much says it all. RCL Group has a plan and it appears to be on track. Looking at the Celebrity board, there are many who are moaning about the increasing cost of X cruises. The cost of cruises is now approaching the daily rate at a "better" land resort - and it should be as the value is there. I can see where RCLG is using some of the same management approaches on Silversea as RC and X - it only makes sense Offering a consistent product from ship to ship throughout the year takes work. That doesn't mean that Silversea will become RCL with better champagne but they will cut out bits and pieces that didn't really offer any value to the end user. Midnight chocolate buffets went the way of the dodo, although people wax poetic about them - they just never ate anything from them

we can all dream.

look at the X ads on tv. https://www.ispot.tv/brands/IgU/celebrity-cruises All of them focus on a "vacation" and not a cruise. It is a floating resort with all the amenities of a land hotel. My casual convos with first time cruisers indicates that they are pretty happy There is a whole range of resorts - from the old time Holi-domes to Marriotts to Ritz Carltons. They set their pricing based on what they think they offer against all week long vacation competition. RCL Group with three lines tries to match up pricing against what is out there. I took a quick look at Sandals Jamaica in mid January and it isn't cheap All inclusive with a balcony room is about $1k a night - similar to The Retreat. Iberostar in Aruba is $900. There are a whole range of all inclusive in Mexico and the Caribbean but the average person doesnt know the quality of them.

the butler handles all the laundry needs, but obviously doesnt actually do the laundry Generally in by 9 am and returned same day around 5.

occupancy for the RCL Group was around 110%, meaning that they are fully booked plus enough room with an extra one or two people in them. With that scenario there is little reason to offer attractive solo fare since all the cabins are booked, then some. More people on board means more revenue and profit.

you are making the wrong comparison. RCL group is now looking at pricing differential against land resorts and not the competing cruise lines. The CEO determined that they are 20% less expensive than land resorts on a nightly and weekly basis. To RCL, the other cruise lines are leaving money on the table Looking at the JW Marriott Marco Island (pretty nice hotel), a standard water facing room is $821/night. Food and booze are extra and it isn't hard to spend $500/day on B/L/D plus assorted drinks for 2 people. $10 K for a week Our Retreat suite on Apex during the same week is just about the same price. Apex includes entertainment, casino and other fun things

Continue to fly to FLL and Uber or train to Miami

we live just above Fort Lauderdale We can leave the condo at 10 am and be in the cabin at 11 am drinking a Pina Colada . No airport, check luggage, find the hotel, uber to the ship concerns. Many of the "luxury" cruise lines sail from Barbados, St Martin etc and that requires another level of planning that don't want to do in a post Holiday vacation Summer is a different story That vacation is more involved (some land hotels) and longer (generally 5-6 weeks) so I dont mind more logistics I know plenty of people that go to the same hotel in the Keys every year. X ships are the same to us and actually are a better deal than something like the JW Marriott Marco Island. That hotel is at $821 a night (water view and balcony) in January (the same week as our cruise) plus food and booze. No entertainment either

we are ok with a standard 7 night cruise ex Florida since we do a 12 night summer cruise somewhere new to us. the X Retreat experience is just fine for Caribbean for us.

On Edge class (which is what we travel in with Retreat) we think it's pretty good. The big production shows are well done and entertaining. What is creeping in is we don't really want to see Rockumentary or Tree of Life again as it is on every year. Most of the singers are good as well. Comedians are always uneven to us but that is us. Martini bar is good but can get loud. Eden acoustic is good. Pool is way too loud for us but we hang out in the Retreat pool anyway.

Well, it's not an Edge class ship with big productions shows but we are OK with that with port intensive European cruises No Martini bar band and no Eden acoustical trio. We really dont leave the ship in the Caribbean so the ship activities are more important for us on X Silversea has mostly individual performers in the pool, main bar playing better background music The nightly show is a "better" performer with some type of singing - West End, Broadway would be typical. Generally good enough and entertaining especially after a day on tour and a very good dinner.

we found our butler to be very good and not what we had experienced on Celebrity (which was OK) There are few restaurants on your ship and it is somewhat difficult to get to know a staff member (usually a waiter) to talk to. The butler took that role for us Delivers breakfast. Afternoon snacks which could include caviar and champagne. Can draw a bath "experience" in your room Worth it ! they will take care of your laundry

My two examples are a 12 day Rome-Venice trip (already taken) and a Norway (next year). In both cases Silversea and X Retreat were the same price. We like the Retreat product in the Caribbean, especially since we live in South Florida. Easy to get to the port. That would don't be the case for Silversea as it requires a flight or two. In Europe, both lines offer easy to get to ports Silversea wins for us - smaller ships, smaller ports, on board experience is excellent BTW - we get free laundry on Silversea due to X status an that is a big plus. Doesn't mean we are bored with X. We like the product, just depends on the venue. There is some comfort derived from a familiar situation. Many people go to the same hotel every year for vacation - why not a ship? I am Sur ethat the price similarity is not the same for every match up

I think that is doable.

the MDR choice is available in non-Edge ships. The two kitchens are very close. In Edge class ships the two kitchens are on opposite ends of the ships and it is difficult to send someone there and back and arrive with hot food. talk to the waiter in Luminae and tell them what you eat (and don't) and they will accomodate you as best they can. You will be surprised what they can do as they get requests all the time. Success will be giving them advance notice of what you like - not table side after looking at the menu.

The other consideration is baggage allowance of economy vs business. We have found that the cost of economy plus checkin costs of overstuffed American size luggage is very close to business class with included luggage allowances. the European business class seat leave something to be desired but it is a trade off with the other included add ons

You are lucky getting the new Club World suite. The old and still out there Club World seats are (IIRC) 2-4-2 with opposing seats. You are literally facing someone all the time. BA throws in a generally non working slide up barrier to terrorize you. I wouldn’t fly BA Club World without the new configuration

Celebrity has the same Move Up system. They still offer GTY

Certainly airlines do this and are generally successful at it. the upgrade program is not on what's available, it is what could be available. They may not make a decision until a week or so before sailing. They don't want any cabins empty and if they can recover the cost difference between what you paid vs the extra cost of the bigger suite

plus a thousand half empty glasses littering the ship with pax commenting how dirty the ship is

would love to see breakdowns by cruise line - RC,X or Silversea - that bolster the analysts thoughts.

I haven't done a deep dive but at least in the Med, Silversea has split the cruises into 7 day out and back ports and 10 day+ cruises that could be BtB I assume the 7 day are for folks that want smaller port, small ship but have to get back to work to pay for all of it. Those would appeal to the average upgrader from X et al who is tired of the Retreat suite. Ports are easy to get to with good airline connections. The longer ones are more varied ports for second timers Ponant has the advantage of being a outsized yacht that can get just about anywhere with minimal help - at least compared to a small cruise ship. The Ponant cruises look very good but would require the average traveller some adventure just to get to the port and home from there. Silversea isn't losing sleep over them no matter how good they are.

I don't think that most X cruisers in the Med are that adventuresome and want to see the highlights that they have heard about. My guess is that they cruised X in the Caribbean a few times, like it, and now are looking at an "Italy" cruise. If they liked X before they will stick with it for the Med Even Infinity is twice the size of a Silversea ship. There aren't any two hour bus rides from the port on Silversea to visit something - not true on X Bad news on Silversea is that it is Retreat pricing and many people aren't gong to spend that amount.

Kendal? Great town and we enjoy the area. Our friends from Liverpool have a weekend house in town Nice boat ride on Lake Windermere with a wander through Ambleside.