Cruise cost seems much higher that 2 years ago

[Checkmate1955]

I find the balcony cabins on the Norwegian Dawn for $1299, roughly 50% over what you paid two years ago on RCL. Different ship, different line, different year, different price.

 

I also find balcony cabins on the Carnival Dream for $780. Different ship, different line, different year, different price.

 

I do not believe that the price you quoted is total price... I checked the Dream a couple of days ago and it was over $1100. PP for a lower price location balcony... New Orleans... I do appreciate your information and help... Thanks...

[whogo]

I do not believe that the price you quoted is total price... I checked the Dream a couple of days ago and it was over $1100. PP for a lower price location balcony... New Orleans... I do appreciate your information and help... Thanks...

I checked one online cruise agency for March cruises from New Orleans. The cheapest balcony on Carnival Dream was listed as $779 for the March 6, 2016 departure. The price rose each week after that to $899, $969 and $979.

[Checkmate1955]

I checked one online cruise agency for March cruises from New Orleans. The cheapest balcony on Carnival Dream was listed as $779 for the March 6, 2016 departure. The price rose each week after that to $899, $969 and $979.

 

I check again today and your figures are correct.... Those are fair prices and are not near as high as NCL... They offer good choices of deck and location.... at the price quoted.... NCL is really pushing higher prices when you try to pick location.. Thanks for all of your help and Merry Christmas....:)

[BlueRiband]

Thanks to those of you who answered my questions/concerns... I have found that many just do not read the posters statements/questions/etc... I said that NCL was almost double what we paid for RCCL.....

 

NCL normally does not charge as much for the same room and location that RCCL does.... Is that not a fair statement.... ? out of the same port for the same number of days... So why is NCL charging over a $1000 per person today for that cruise and throughout the year...?

 

Facilities, services, food, and ammenities will all affect pricing from ship to ship for similiar itineraries. If best pricing is your number one priority you may be happier giving that line your business.

[iancal]

Our take is, not considering currency, that cruise prices have increased in some areas.

 

We look at them in terms of relative value. Relative to other travel options that we enjoy-independent land travel, AI's,etc.

 

Our sense is that Med and Baltic cruises increased in relative terms to other options. This one reason why we passed on them last fall. We passed on Asia cruises for the same reason in preference for an independent land tour.

 

I suspect others are making their own evaluations and in some instances selecting alternative vacation options.

 

Cruises are only one vacation option. There are so many ships in the market now.

[Checkmate1955]

.... Thanks to all who replied......

[Checkmate1955]

Our take is, not considering currency, that cruise prices have increased in some areas.

 

We look at them in terms of relative value. Relative to other travel options that we enjoy-independent land travel, AI's,etc.

 

Our sense is that Med and Baltic cruises increased in relative terms to other options. This one reason why we passed on them last fall. We passed on Asia cruises for the same reason in preference for an independent land tour.

 

I suspect others are making their own evaluations and in some instances selecting alternative vacation options.

 

Cruises are only one vacation option. There are so many ships in the market now.

 

I agree... We enjoy cruising but enjoy much more being on a self guided tour of Europe... Riding the trains around Europe is a trip itself... We will cruise when the mood hits us and the prices are in line with what we can do elsewhere on our own.... Thanks..

[barante]

We just got back from the Dec. 9-18 ten-day Eastern Caribbean on the RCL Grandeur of the Seas. Early on, we booked a JS aft-balcony overlooking the wake. The total for two was $2,273. Gratuities were complimentary; $50 OBC.

 

We cruised to Baltimore to Labadee to San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. All for that money. Yes, cruise prices are up -- particularly on RCL from Baltimore for all categories except for inside and OV -- but deals can be had.

 

Our future cruises include itineraries that to us are on the expensive side. HAL Rotterdam's 18-day TA from Rotterdam to Iceland to Greenland to Boston (inside category J), HAL Zaandam's 22-day Horn and Antarctica (OV overlooking the wake) from Valparaiso, and the Norwegian Sun's 20-day repo from Valparaiso to San Francisco (aft-balcony).

 

But spending all that money is our choice. In fact, in two cases I canceled white-bread variety cruises in order to be more ambitious.

 

Even in retirement, my life is too busy to do last minute stuff. But if you looked at all the cruises available for this Christmas/New Year period and at incredible prices, in some cases.

 

Where else can I get similar travel/lodging/meal values?

Edited December 25, 2015 by barante

[chengkp75]

Again, I will respond to those who cite lower oil and gas prices as a reason that cruise prices should drop. The marine fuel business is no where near as volatile as the crude or gasoline markets. Also, the cruise lines buy fuel in "bidding blocks" like futures, so they react later and less acutely than oil or gas prices. Finally, starting in Jan 2015, the ships had to switch to marine diesel fuel over residual fuel when within 200 miles of the NA coastline. Marine diesel is twice as expensive as residual fuel. Since marine fuel has not dropped by 50%, this switch to diesel fuel means that a portion of the ship's fuel bill actually went up. Given all three circumstances, fuel costs for the cruise lines have not dropped as much as folks think.

 

And I agree that cruise prices have not kept pace with inflation over the last 10 years, while the cruise lines' costs most assuredly have. This is why you see folks complaining about the "cutbacks" as mentioned above. If the cruise lines were keeping their profit margins (notice I say margins, not total profits, which are increasing due to overall market increases), then cruise prices would be much higher than they are now.

Edited December 25, 2015 by chengkp75

[Krazy Kruizers]

This spring we are doing the same cruise -- in the same cabin -- that we did a couple of years ago.

Yup -- it is $5000 more this year.

[SuiteTraveler]

Thanks to those of you who answered my questions/concerns... I have found that many just do not read the posters statements/questions/etc... I said that NCL was almost double what we paid for RCCL.....

 

NCL normally does not charge as much for the same room and location that RCCL does.... Is that not a fair statement.... ? of the same port for the same number of days... So why is NCL charging over a $1000 per person today for that cruise and throughout the year...? Seems high but as some said: they will charge as much as we are willing to pay...etc... Plus they have raised the rate because of the free beverage and then add another $160..? Is that being done on all of the cruise lines or just NCL....?

 

Fuel is way down... Eggs and milk are up as are many items we buy but none are up near 100 percent in two years... Just Saying.....:)

 

"NCL normally does not charge as much for the same room and location that RCCL does.... Is that not a fair statement.... ? "

 

On older NCL ships, yes. On the new ones, their pricing has been more similar to RCCL's mega ships than not. In my experience cruises on brand new ships always cost significantly more than ships that are 2 - 5 years old and cruises on even older ships cost less.

 

The $160 is for tips on beverages, right? So the beverage is free, the service is not. And yes, some other lines do this. If they don't put an auto-tip on the bill, then there is almost always a line where you fill in how much you wish to tip.

 

As to cruise pricing, cruises are still much cheaper than what the pricing was back in the 1990's when we paid $15,000 for a balcony on our first cruise on Princess through the Panama Canal. I did a little research on a cruise my parents took on the SS Constitution in 1957. They went first class from New York to Naples, Italy and in current US dollars, that cruise for 2 cost the equivalent of $30,000 in today's money.

 

Todays ships are much more elaborate, we have unparalleled options onboard and the cruises are still cheaper than in the past. I don't think we really have anything to complain about in regards to prices. Yes, they have gone up a bit this year but so has everything else.

[Karysa]

Checkmate:

 

My advice, that *just* worked for me, is to book way out. I cancelled a Princess 5-port, 14-day Panama Canal cruise for this coming Feb/Mar and booked a HAL 10-port 19-day PC cruise 16-months out, for the same amount... and I am watching almost daily for any reduction in fares.

 

The other suggestion, if you can neither predict YOUR availability that far in advance NOR tie up the minimum required downpayment for over a year (knowing that it is 100% refundable if you book yourself) -- is to get your ducks in a row and be ready to jump at last-minute bargains. Of course that requires a convenient port, because last-minute airfares will eat up the savings!

 

Booking far out has disadvantages to. Lots can happen in 16 months. It's not all about bargains.

[iancal]

We are viewing it as an opportunity to explore different travel options.

 

We came up with a land based replacement for our winter cruise. And we have narrowed down a land based choice for next year should cruise prices remain relatively high for us. It does not have to be a take a cruise or stay at home decision.

Edited December 27, 2015 by iancal

[fishtown]

Has anyone talked about the number of Cabin spaces allotted to the Chinese market ? And what impact if any it has had ??

[Hlitner]

Booking far out has disadvantages to. Lots can happen in 16 months. It's not all about bargains.

 

Not sure we see your point as the only downside to doing a long term booking is that you must make a deposit. In most cases (at least in North America) you can always later cancel and get a full refund of the deposit...and given today's interest rates you will not have lost much capital.

 

That being said, DW and I seldom book far in advance for a a multitude of reasons.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

Has anyone talked about the number of Cabin spaces allotted to the Chinese market ? And what impact if any it has had ??

 

Yeah, that is a new development in the cruise industry. But we do not think it is impacting on most cruises booked in the USA...other then perhaps a few Asian itineraries. Several cruise lines have relocated (or will soon relocate) one of more ships to home ports in Asia..with the intent of tapping into the huge potential market in both China and other Asian countries. To a great degree, those ships will essentially be pulled out of the North American/European cruise market and targeted to Asians with onboard language accomodations, currency changes, etc. But given the huge inventory of current ships plus the many new builds we do not see the impact here. You might also consider that only a handful of cruise lines (including RCIhave moved ships to this market. But many other mass market lines have not tapped this market and do not seem to have an plans for the near future.

 

Hank

Edited June 3, 2016 by Hlitner

[navybankerteacher]

I absolutely agree. I think the increase in price is a normal response to a strengthening economy. And as long as ships sail full at these prices why would they be lowered? Our strategy is to determine our price point, and pick a cabin and cruise that fits that budget. We also try to take longer cruises or B2B so we only have one set of flights and precruise hotels for the same number of cruise days.

 

Right on point-- we are now showing unmistakable signs of emerging from the recession triggered by the collapse of 2007/8. For years lines held prices down in an effort to fill ships - now they are interested in boosting profits, having exposed millions to the cruise experience at "loss-leader" prices.

 

I believe that the price run-up is just starting -- watch out if fuel prices start to rise as well.

[paul929207]

Not sure we see your point as the only downside to doing a long term booking is that you must make a deposit. In most cases (at least in North America) you can always later cancel and get a full refund of the deposit...and given today's interest rates you will not have lost much capital.

 

That being said, DW and I seldom book far in advance for a a multitude of reasons.

 

Hank

I agree, there is not much downside at least for those of us in North America. We can still get price cuts, but are protected from increases

[Ashland]

I have all my RCI Booking Confirmations..even from several years ago...and am sad they won't price-match :D:D:D

[Karysa]

Not sure we see your point as the only downside to doing a long term booking is that you must make a deposit. In most cases (at least in North America) you can always later cancel and get a full refund of the deposit...and given today's interest rates you will not have lost much capital.

 

That being said, DW and I seldom book far in advance for a a multitude of reasons.

 

Hank

 

Booking a cruise means booking a flight as well for us. Most flights that we book are non-refundable and with the viruses and terrorism of today's world booking later rather than sooner has some advantages to me.

[navybankerteacher]

Booking a cruise means booking a flight as well for us. Most flights that we book are non-refundable and with the viruses and terrorism of today's world booking later rather than sooner has some advantages to me.

 

"Advance" means something else when talking air - many airlines cannot be booked more than a year out - Jet Blue cannot now be booked for later than Jan 4, 2017.

[Karysa]

"Advance" means something else when talking air - many airlines cannot be booked more than a year out - Jet Blue cannot now be booked for later than Jan 4, 2017.

 

I like booking flights as early as possible usually around 11 mths out I can book. I find to get the best times booking early helps.

[Sea Hag]

How many folks have complained about the cut backs on various cruise lines? If we don't want the cut backs, we have to pay more to have the crew numbers we know previously were the rule, the food/menu items we look forward to, longer time in ports etc

 

We cannot expect to get all the features we complained are disappearing if we are not willing to pay for them.

 

Exactly. We all voted with our wallets when it came to airfare, and look how well that worked out.

[JimAOk1945]

Interesting thread resurrected from December 2015 but still relevant. Yes, the prices have gone up, but people who enjoy cruising, including us, will still find a way to save up and make it work. It's a great way to travel.