Why are Med. cruises so costly?

[DebbieMacG]

I've never paid a lot for a med cruise and have been on/booked four since November 2011

 

The first was in Nov 2011 on the Equinox booked August 2011 and paid £511pp in a 1b balcony cabin for 10 nights that's £51 a night (about $76)

 

The second was in October 2012 booked in February 2012 on the Silhouette and I paid £737pp in a 2a balcony cabin for 11 nights that's £67 a night (about $100)

 

The third I've just booked for May 2013 on the Eclipse and paid £819pp for a gty cabin on the Eclipse for 14 nights that's £58.50 a night ($87)

 

The fourth was booked in July 2012 for November 2013 on the Equinox and I paid £639 for a 1a cabin for 12 nights that's £53.25 a night ($79)

 

I also booked a Norway cruise 4 weeks out and paid £470pp

 

These prices includes taxes but not gratuities, in most cases I also got $200-$300 OBC for purchasing a open passages cert.

 

As you can see two of these cruises were booked well in advance of sailing date one 8 months out and one 15 months, the others closer at 3 months and 6 weeks.

 

I'm not sure how any of these can be described as expensive? The TA I use is actually owned by RCCL and so isn't allowed to give massive discounts (not that any of them are now)

 

The bargains are there if you look :)

[Benjo8]

Another benefit of cruising Europe is that you largely pay in dollars on board and thereby avoid much of the expense of a land vacation on the Continent that you pay for in Euros. Cruising Europe is much more expensive than the Caribbean but still a relative bargain.

[librarylady19]

The price for our 7 night Venice to Istanbul cruise is only $50 more pp than a 7 night Solatice cruise to Alaska the same week.

I was not unhappy with the pricing and I'm thrilled with the itinerary! We were able to snag c2 hump balcony cabins in deck 10.

[kyriecat]

I was on Silhouette for a Med cruise last October. I booked the cruise in May 2010, as soon as the itineraries came out. The cruise was for my 40th birthday so we thought about a suite. Suite prices were more than we expected so we booked a concierge cabin. As our sailing date came closer, prices dropped. We were on a sailing that included Israel and Egypt so it wasn't a popular sailing. A couple people on the roll call cancelled. We ended up switching to a SS2 for less than we were paying originally for the CC. The CC cabin price went down by about 50%. Obviously that isn't typical, but prices could drop if an itinerary isn't selling well.

[jveevers]

I guess I cannot go on anything else but the current prices which are very high, between $600- and $700- per night for 2 pax in AQ2.

 

I will just wait and watch and see what happens. Hopefully I can eventually book at a good price, or one that i feel is OK. I am tempted to book my air with say a 28 day span and then wait for a good priced cruise that fits into that 28 days. The rest of the 28 days i can do land content.

[SeaWatch]

We booked a specific cabin for our June Med trip on the Sillhoutte a year prior to sailing date. I felt the same way about the cost.

 

I watched for sales and last summer Celebrity had a guaranteed verandah sale which saved me $1,900 so I jumped at that opportunity.

[cruisemom42]

As a frequent Med cruiser on various lines, I'd like to toss in that IMO Celebrity has had a different pricing model in years past.

 

Relatively to other competitor lines, Celebrity's prices seemed to start out at a more reasonable level. I assumed this is because they wanted to grab the "early bookers" who were comparing rates between lines such as Celebrity, Princess, HAL etc.

 

Princess and HAL seemed to have a different strategy of pricing very high initially but then dropping prices substantially if cruises were not selling well.

 

Perhaps Celebrity's higher initial prices are reflecting somewhat of a change in their philosophy this year as well....?

[jveevers]

We booked a specific cabin for our June Med trip on the Sillhoutte a year prior to sailing date. I felt the same way about the cost.

 

I watched for sales and last summer Celebrity had a guaranteed verandah sale which saved me $1,900 so I jumped at that opportunity.

 

 

So did you cancel and re-book. Did you get deposit refunded?

[Oceangoer2]

We booked our Med cruise a year ago. We were able to take advantage of a promo that popped up in July (balcony for inside pricing) $1749 pp (before taxes) = $145 per day/pp We are now after final and the cheapest balcony is $2598 = $216.15 per day/pp. I have not yet been sorry for booking early:)

I agree...we booked in December 2012 for Sept. 2013 Med Equinox...right in the middle of a 3 week (I think) promo of $1000 OBC. Price for SV was great as well. Really early or really late seems to find the best prices (airfare is cheaper and direct flights available as well; only downside to that is you're committed to the trip).

[heathermk57]

Celebrity makes things a bit more complicated with their 1-2-3 promotion. It is amazing to us that if a cruise line increases the price of a passenger day by $50 and then gives you a $44 amenity...there are many folks who think its a great deal. Hank

 

In the UK the base price is broadly comparable but we don't get the 1-2-3 promotion.:(