Has Anyone Else Noticed???

The past few days I keep reading how people are changing from RC to Carnival because they are getting almost the same cruise for a lot less.

I wonder how full RC ships are sailing and if they are loosing a lot of customers with this economy.

definitely. but i'd say the volume of these posts really started to peak about a month or two ago. i think i really started to notice more of them right around the time ccl rolled out the early saver rates in february.

I have to admit even though I have sailed both and like RCCL what pushed me over the edge for our next two is carnival's price (the chocolate melting cake) helped!

When your saving at least 200 a person for 7 days that is almost another short cruise you could go on. Makes you stop and go hmmmmm

burnsie

My wife and I love RCCL (to be honest we love Carnival too) but the RCCL cruises for the week that we are cruising were 400 more for a similar cruise. It also hurts that RCCL chooses not to cruise out of Galveston in the summer months...

Though many will disagree with me, Carnival and RCI are basically the same product. Carnival just charges less.

Besides, RCI has that big new fancy ship to pay for. ;)

My step-son works for RC and we took our 1st cruise with them in

June, 08 and loved it. March 5-9, 2009 was on Carnival Destiny. I thought Destiny was much better so we booked our 3rd on Carnival Freedom in Nov. 2009.

I looked at RC first out of loyalty to my step-son but the difference in price wasn't worth it, especially since the Destiny was a much better experience.

I am one of the new Carnival cruisers. I have been very loyal to Royal for years. The large increase in price is what has changed me. I don't expect to find enough differences in the two to make up the difference in cost. Heck, I may like it better, you never know.:D

Besides' date=' RCI has that big [b']new fancy ship to pay for[/b]. ;)

.

When booking with them now, you feel like you are!!!

The past few days I keep reading how people are changing from RC to Carnival because they are getting almost the same cruise for a lot less.

 

I wonder how full RC ships are sailing and if they are loosing a lot of customers with this economy.

This really isn't surprising...

When I was on the Blogger's Cruise in February we had a discussion about this very thing. The CEO of RCI had previously said that he refused to heavily discount cabins. He said they would rather sail with empty cabins than dilute the brand.

He got his wish. RCI ships are sailing with empty cabins as profits and share prices fall...

An annual friends cruise I take in September on Royal has increased 300 - 400 dollars since last year. That cruise will be sailing with out our group of 20 this year. Maybe we will go with Carnival next year. Our Inspiration this year is a test. From everything I have read I think we will have just as much fun.

RCI is now offering law enforcement discounts (police,firefighter). So just for fun, I took a look at a comp to my Carnival cruise that is booked for May, and Carnival still blew them out of the water.

At this point price will clearly out sell the "brand"

Though many will disagree with me' date=' Carnival and RCI are basically the same product. Carnival just charges less.

 

Besides, RCI has that big new fancy ship to pay for. ;)[/quote']

 

We like Carnival, but have recently tried RC and are going back for another short Bahamas Cruise this summer. The main reason is their private island stop on the short 3/4 nighters. Carnival was cheaper, but the port stops tipped the scales toward Royal. Sure wish Carnival would include a stop at HMC from Port Canaveral!

 

When we start taking longer cruises, I imagine it will be more often on Carnival.

When we were on the Grand in January our Maitre D told us ADventure was half full only because RCCL will not reduce their fare .Guess what ?Princess did and the ship sailed full

In these times you should think twice about that /

People on board will spend $$$ .I basically do not drink an still managed to spend lots of $$$$$ on ship ..wine tasting,specialty restaurant .shopping ,casino

If Rccl wants to stay AFLOAT -pardon the pun -they will have to change and follow everyone else .All companies are discounting now .even European ones offer flights now !!!

I would love to go on Oasis next year on mArch break but it costs TWICE as much as any other cruise so I will have to wait for better prices!!!!!

We are looking at a cruise with Carnival. Just to cure my curiosity, I looked at Royal also. The price with Royal was about $2000 more for a balcony room, just as I had priced on Carnival. I dont see any justification to pay that type of money. Carnival will continue to be my cruise choice.

i tried out RCCL last year (since it was a family group trip) and it wasn't that bad, but for what i paid for an inside cabin on royal, i'm getting a balcony on this year's family cruise on carnival... to the majority of my family, the price really does matter during these economic times!!!

I can understand RCCL wanting "price integrity" and doing away with many discounting practices. They have such heavy, heavy debt with more on the way (Oasis' sister ship, Allure). How they are ever going to keep up with their debt will be interesting to watch.

I wonder, however, about trying to justify much higher fares on cruises that don't offer anything more than any other "mass-market" cruise. Sure, Cunard is higher priced...so is Seaborne, Silversea and others...but, they are luxury vessels and can charge luxury prices. They appeal to a certain "niche" market who will gladly pay the rates for the experience.

However, RCCL is not in the luxury market. Their ships are very nice and the cruise experience is a good one....but nowhere near the luxury niche.

They seem to keep playing around with onboard amenities, modifying their loyalty programs, showing preferential treatment for some suite passengers - using normally public deck areas and other actions trying to draw the "big spenders" onboard.

I wish them well but......

Meanwhile, Carnival continues to provide a wonderful cruise experience on beautiful ships. Their prices are great and discounts readily available to those who are vigilant. I've noticed very little cost cutting onboard...and nothing at all that detracts from the overall cruise. I believe that many of those methods are "behind the scenes" while they try to protect the vacation venue. Bar prices might have been raised a little, the room service menu has been modified a little, side dishes at dinner a little smaller (but, you can still order all you want), menus have been tweaked a little. Prices are a little higher than they were a few years ago but still well below RCCL and others.

They haven't loaded up on for-fee venues such as restaurants that have a service charge. The places where there are fees such as the specialty coffee/pastry concessions and the wonderful Supper Clubs are definitely optional and have had no effect at all on the other dining selections that are free.

I wish RCCL well........meanwhile, welcome to those RCCL folks who've decided to give Carnival a try.....I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

My first cruise was Royal Caribbean, but I was only 17 and it was one of their older ships. It wasn't that impressive, but the service was great. Of course I'd never been any place where I had 5 star service.

I went Celebrity for my undergrad present and I met a few people and the service was good too.

I was so obsessed with getting on RCCL's Liberty b/c of the "hype" until I realized that the stuff I liked about the cruises I went on I could get on Carnival. I'm not going to rock climb and nor do I usually buy at the shops on the ship. And I wouldn't see the point in paying extra for some of the restaurants on RCCL. It came down to price and what I really wanted out of my vacation.

RCCL's cruise was 7 nights with crappy island choices for about $200 more than the 8 night cruise I will be going on with Carnival. Plus the interior staterooms on RCCL are 152 sq ft., while Carnival has 185 sq ft (bigger than RCCL's oceanviews.)

Its the American way to get more bang for your buck and I think I won on this deal.:D

Nicely said G'ma

The past few days I keep reading how people are changing from RC to Carnival because they are getting almost the same cruise for a lot less.

 

I wonder how full RC ships are sailing and if they are losing a lot of customers with this economy.

I'm about to do the same thing. Although the RCCL ships are nice, everything else is either the same, or better on Carnival.

I have a Bermuda cruise booked for this summer, but with everything going on over at RCCL, it seems to be silly to not trade up for less money.

I will miss Bermuda, though. When will Carnival return there in the warm months?

Carnival gives on price but they more than make up for it in the volume of passengers.Smart business thinking.

I cruise on both lines a fair amount. Five times last year alone. That was 4 on RCL and 1 on CCL. I leave next Friday for a cruise on the Glory. Then and in July as well. I am fine with either line. Given a choice I do love the Royal Promanades on the Voyager class ships but I have no isues with Carinval..... In looking for a cruise for next week I had to choose between the Independance in Miami or the Glory in Port Canaveral.

For me I had wanted the Indy but it could not come close to the Glory as far as value is concerned. For two in a balcony it was actually half as much sail Glory..... Half is a large amout of consideration. Additionally, from where I live Port Canaveral is a 7 hour drive. Miami is two plane tickets...

My question would be this...... If I am noticing this and making my choices accordingly.... How many others are doing the same thing. That might exsplain the differances in stock prices....

I compared both companies when deciding on our upcoming cruise (on the Liberty), and decided to stick with Carnival. The price was good, the itinerary was just what I was looking for, and we had a really great time on our Miracle cruise.

I saw no good reason to pay extra for RCCL - instead I'll take that extra cash and blow it on useful stuff - like DODs. :D

I have cruised on RCI and Carnival and frankly I could not tell the

difference. I was with a group of people on Carnival and really didn't

have the time to notice. All my cruises are great and the little

differences just don't matter. It is the price and the itenary that

are important to me.

With RCI not having a ship leaving from Galveston in the summer

and fall, a lot of people will choose Carnival because their ships are

there full time. And when they choose Carnival they may not go back

to a RCI ship for the 5 or 6 months they are in Galveston.

We have to pay more to cruise out of Galveston than from other ports

and saving what you can is important.

I have been on HAL, Carnival, RCI, Norwegian, Celebrity and I could no

more tell you the differences in any of them. I am usually enjoying the people I am with and enjoying my vacation and don't look for things to bother me. :)

I'm wondering if RCI will discount fares first, or go under with the higher fares weighed around their neck. If so...any chance Carnival has the $$ to buy them out? I don't follow either lines' financials, I was just wondering about the possibility. And if that would happen, would Carnival continue to keep the prices low, or charge more bc they bumped out their closest competition? Hmmmm...