If Carnival drastically reduced fares but...

[lido deck larry]

Eliminated all free food, no more MDR, but just a new assortment of pay as-you- go buffets and restaurants, would you still cruise?

[firemanbobswife]

No. Defeats 90% of the reason why I cruise. Might as well just get a hotel somewhere then.

[asalligo]

Yes, I would still cruise. As I have said before as long as it is cheaper than a land vacation for me, I will cruise.

 

Frankly, I cannot think of any land vacation that meets the price point of a Carnival cruise right now. I cannot get a room at the Holiday Inn and feed my family at McDonalds for the price of a well shopped cruise.

 

I would miss all inclusive, but I would still cruise.

[bakersdozen12]

If the reduction in costs was enough to offset what I would have to pay for meals, then I don't see why not.

Edited April 3, 2015 by bakersdozen12

[ccartman2]

Considering how over priced Carnival's liquor is, I am not sure I would. It would depend on the price of each item. Problem is, I, like many others, eat different on a cruise then I do any place else. I don't typically get Escargot in my normal life. Lobster tail? If I make it to Lobsterfest. I still miss the baked Alaska and Chateaubriand.

 

I like the idea of having different and "fancy" foods, I don't typically get to eat. If they want to charge me like a resturant would, I'm not sure I would be very happy for a 7 day cruise. A guys burger on Land would cost you $10 plus (considering the price of a red robin or 5 guys burger). Is that what they would charge?

 

The other downside is it would cause the price of the cruise to be a lot more variable, which could make me shy away from it. That is what I liked most about Cheers, was, as expesnive as it was, I know what I was paying for the cruise, Tips, drinks, & the Chef's table. The only unplanned charges were port activities (which were minimal), Dr. Suess breakfast (only cause I forgot), and pictures. Pretty nice having the big ticket stuff paid for (or at least the cash sitting there) before the cruise. It will just make that planning more difficult and the process less fun.

[golfb4cruzing]

Nope, staying with Princess. Thanks.

[ready2cruzagain]

I would cruise but not on Carnival that's for sure!! After going on 21 days of the Journeys cruises next Jan I am sure I will switch back to Princess. I just wanted to try the Journeys cruises with the new itinerarys.

Edited April 3, 2015 by ready2cruzagain

[asalligo]

Nope, staying with Princess. Thanks.

 

You can bet that if one cruise line drops all inclusive either that one will return to all inclusive or the rest will follow their suit. Especially Princess versus Carnival both being owned by the same company.

[Kristi Williamson]

Eliminated all free food, no more MDR, but just a new assortment of pay as-you- go buffets and restaurants, would you still cruise?

 

 

It depends on what "drastically reduced" means. I don't compare cruising to hotels in any capacity.

 

I don't pay 1000's of dollars for a hotel room unless I'm in downtown Manhattan, so something relatively significant needs to accompany the extremely small room to justify that price and that price would have to drop significantly for me to even consider cruising over other vacations if it only covered the room and transportation. (let's face it...the entertainment left the train a LONG time ago.)

[lido deck larry]

The way I'd envision it, Carnival could sell meal plans good at certain venus at various price points, or go a la carte the way drinks are done. The MDR is a huge waste of space with fixed, boring menus, IMO. Bring in multiple new restaurant concepts for better quality and choice in it's place. Don't want to subsidize someone ordering lobster or steak in your cruise fare, when you don't eat those items yourself? Now you wouldn't have to.

Edited April 3, 2015 by lido deck larry

[Jenniell]

For me I would hate it. I'm an accountant who has to keep track of money in and out all day every day. One of the wonderful things I love about cruising is I don't have to think about what anything costs for a magical blissful week. I'm not a big drinker so I would be shocked if we spend more than $200 during an entire week on board.

[Honolulu Blue]

Eliminated all free food, no more MDR, but just a new assortment of pay as-you- go buffets and restaurants, would you still cruise?

 

What you've described is what Norwegian and Royal Caribbean either have or are working towards.

 

As far as me, it all depends on how "drastically" fares are reduced. I spend about $20-30 a day on food when I'm on vacation, so if they dropped the price more than that I'd happily get on board.

[bury me at sea]

Would not cruise under the scenario described.

[ASchaff]

Nope, not a chance

[Homosassa]

Someone tried this. It was called "Easy Cruise" line. The line didn't last long.

[Tapi]

This scenario was already tried by another cruise line in Europe (EasyCruise). They are no longer in business.

 

Their concept was to deliver a completely unbundled product (you had to pay extra for meals and even housekeeping). No professional entertainment and only a a bar/night club to keep people entertained at night.

 

Even though their rates were ridiculously low (if I recall, starting at $19 a night), they failed to develop enough interest and they finally shut down.

[EZ4]

Pay-to-go bathrooms will be next. Make sure you keep your card handy.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

The whole hypothesis is sharply flawed. You can't put people in a controlled environment and then force them to pay for sustenance. There has to be the ability to choose something else if you don't want the "to be paid for" selections the cruise line offers. This would only work if the food was supplied, produced and served by outside vendors "competing" for the ship's passenger dollars. So this just ain't going to happen.

[ASchaff]

Even though their rates were ridiculously low (if I recall, starting at $19 a night), they failed to develop enough interest and they finally shut down.

 

To be fair, my base rate on my current cruise is only $57/night on carnival. That's not really all that cheap of a fare when you figure in food and anything else on board that has to be paid for.

 

 

We vacation more than once per year. We typically will go to the Florida Keys in August. This year we will be paying $800/week for a 3 bedroom condo that we will be splitting with 2 other couples. That comes out to $19/night per person. We spend on average $75 in groceries for the week, per person, so $10pp/pd(this includes junk food, soda etc and MOST meals which we cook ourselves). Then we have whatever activities we choose to do(which we don't consider the cost into, because it would be equivalent of an excursion on carnival. We may eat out once or twice in that week for an average of $50pp. There is a total $150 cleaning fee on the condo. There is boat parking fees, but there are parking fees at the departure port so won't count those either. So, that comes out to about $283 per person for the week. It works out for us(I know this isn't typical), but my point is that cruising isn't always the most affordable vacation option. I cruise for the experience, and if that experience were to change to the point where it was no different than going to the Keys, I would just go there for two weeks instead.

[ready2cruzagain]

The whole hypothesis is sharply flawed. You can't put people in a controlled environment and then force them to pay for sustenance. There has to be the ability to choose something else if you don't want the "to be paid for" selections the cruise line offers. This would only work if the food was supplied, produced and served by outside vendors "competing" for the ship's passenger dollars. So this just ain't going to happen.

 

I am sure I might be wrong but what other options has NCL given to cruisers that do not want to pay for room service late at night? I don't think there is another option late at night...pay the fee or don't get the food?

 

It has been 10 yrs since I have been on NCL because of their freestyle dining and all of the pay restaurants. So not really sure what the other options are late at night if you want food. Please enlighten me someone.

[Velvetwater]

If the price and ports was amazingly good then definitely.

 

I would probably bring on some of my own supplies anyway and I do not really need house keeping.

 

I love camping and cruising!

Edited April 3, 2015 by Velvetwater

[SadieN]

If the price and ports was amazingly good then definitely.

 

I would probably bring on some of my own supplies anyway and I do not really need house keeping.

 

I love camping and cruising!

 

 

You can camp and cruise. Set up a tent on deck of an Alaskan State Ferry.

[Liverpoollovely]

Eliminated all free food, no more MDR, but just a new assortment of pay as-you- go buffets and restaurants, would you still cruise?

 

 

I would still cruise it just wouldn't be with Carnival - I don't cruise FOR the food, but there really would be pointless to pay additional costs for us to fly from UK to USA to go on a ship and pay further costs to eat. we would just switch Cruise company :)

[AngAndBoys]

I am sure I might be wrong but what other options has NCL given to cruisers that do not want to pay for room service late at night? I don't think there is another option late at night...pay the fee or don't get the food?

 

It has been 10 yrs since I have been on NCL because of their freestyle dining and all of the pay restaurants. So not really sure what the other options are late at night if you want food. Please enlighten me someone.

 

Well, I might be wrong too, but I think they have O'Sheehans that is 24 hours? And there is another coffee shop type restaurants on some ships...forget what it's called.

 

To answer the original question, no I wouldn't want everything to be pay as you go. It would take away the uniqueness of the cruise vacation...or some of it. And it would make it more difficult to plan for spending. I'm not saying I'd never cruise again, but I'd do other vacations a lot more.

[BigRed93]

The way I'd envision it, Carnival could sell meal plans good at certain venus at various price points, or go a la carte the way drinks are done. The MDR is a huge waste of space with fixed, boring menus, IMO. Bring in multiple new restaurant concepts for better quality and choice in it's place. Don't want to subsidize someone ordering lobster or steak in your cruise fare, when you don't eat those items yourself? Now you wouldn't have to.

 

 

I don't want to see the MDR turned into a food court. :(

 

 

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