What cruise lines are you considering, due to increased X prices?

[villauk]

28 minutes ago, yorky said:

I still believe there are deals to be had, even with Celebrity as long as it’s not Edge, you just need to check regularly and jump in quick when you see something.

 

 

Which is great when you have flexibility. Unfortunately, not everyone does.

[grandgeezer]

3 hours ago, George C said:

We priced edge sky suite and msc seaside yacht club and msc was half the price, love celebrity suite perks but msc perks seem just as nice . 

 

We did the Yacht Club Deluxe Suite last September, on the Seaside and loved everything about it. In fact, in December we booked the same cruise, same cabin for this October. It's a fourteen day Caribbean cruise and we paid about $2650 p.p., including all taxes and fees. This includes internet, prepaid gratuities, a $300 refundable obc, and deluxe drink package that includes the minibar in the cabin.

It's a different vibe and atmosphere, but we adjusted very well.

It must be catching on as the current pricing is much higher than what we paid.

[UnorigionalName]

1 hour ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

Having sailed Carnival, X, and HAL, I would say that it is a different demographic.  Overlap for sure, especially if you compare a 14 night Carnival cruise to a 7 night X cruise, age and income may be similar.  Since the behavior on our last Carnival Journey cruise began to deteriorate halfway through, and ended with a lido deck full of F bombs, blatant pushing and shoving in the buffet, and intentional cold sharing, I'm hoping our 12 night on X doesn't follow the same path tomorrow.  

 

Different terminology, but here's a great video, comparing the different classes of lines.

 

 

I believe the terms used within the industry are actually contemporary, premium, luxury then river and niche.

 

 

I think the picture is a little old. if pullmantur is listed under the rcl umbrella then silversea should be too in the luxury part category.

[Tapi]

3 hours ago, mek said:

...but they're all mass, just different and they all basically cater to the same demographic.  

This comment isn’t to bash Carnival since we had an absolutely wonderful time, but our last Carnival cruise was out of Mobile and we were delayed due to fog. When we finally docked around 5pm, there was a large group of outbound passengers who were tailgating off the back of pickup trucks near the overpass, with lawn chairs and coolers. Needless to say, after several hours of drinking, many were pretty excited about our arrival and they hooted and hollered as we drove away from the terminal. It was hilarious. 

 

Now, I may be wrong, but I just can’t envision this scenario playing itself the same way with HAL, X or Princess passengers! 😂 They may all be mass market cruise lines, but they definitely cater to different demographics. 

[BEAV]

4 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

More and more I am seeing with Celebrity that booking after final payment, and 30-45 days before sailing is probably the best price point with most itineraries.

 

That's by-and-large been our experience for the past couple of years.  But now, even a little more so. And being newly retired, and not too picky with stateroom location, aids in that flexibility.

Edited April 16, 2019 by BEAV

[Stateroom_Sailor]

1 hour ago, UnorigionalName said:

 

I believe the terms used within the industry are actually contemporary, premium, luxury then river and niche.

 

 

I think the picture is a little old. if pullmantur is listed under the rcl umbrella then silversea should be too in the luxury part category.

 

There are various terms used, I'm not sure what is official.  I do believe that Luxury should be divided into two, otherwise we're forced to upgrade or downgrade them, to fit the chart.  Azarara and Oceania, should be in the same category.

 

Edited April 16, 2019 by Stateroom_Sailor

[Jeremiah1212]

We only cruise the Caribbean in January and February. No interest at all in doing Europe, Alaska, Hawaii, Asia, etc. Prices on all of the lines seem to have increased by about 25-30%. We still find Celebrity among the best value and will continue to book. We're not All Inclusive people. A stay at a traditional resort during those winter months at the caliber of property we would enjoy is most definitely more expensive than a cruise in a regular veranda. 

 

I have looked into the "Luxury Light" lines many times and find the price jump is too substantial for me to justify. The reviews comparing Azamara and Celebrity don't sell me on Azamara by any means. If we shake things up again, it would be on one of Windstar's sailing ships. 

 

[NantahalaCruiser]

Booked an Aqua cabin on Millennium for July 2020 at less than a balcony on Princess - with 2 perks. X still sometimes a good deal.

Edited April 16, 2019 by NantahalaCruiser

[Luvcrusn]

We'll be looking at Princess, HAL, Cunard, Norwegian, MSC, Azamara and Oceania. It's good to have options. The current pricing trends on Celebrity, which has long been our favorite, "go-to, don't consider any other choice," has made shopping something we'll routinely do going forward before booking any cruise. Options are our friends!

Edited April 16, 2019 by Luvcrusn

[Stateroom_Sailor]

8 minutes ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Booked an Aqua cabin on Millennium for July 2020 at less than a balcony on Princess - with 2 perks. X still sometimes a gods deal.

 

X is still very competitive in Alaska.  I could actually sail Sept 2020, for the same price as our 2014 cruise, before looking at perks!

[ak1004]

44 minutes ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

There are various terms used, I'm not sure what is official.  I do believe that Luxury should be divided into two, otherwise we're forced to upgrade or downgrade them, to fit the chart.  Azarara and Oceania, should be in the same category.

 

 

Agree. There is no way Azamara and X are in the same category. We sailed on both, Azamara is few steps above.

[bEwAbG]

You can quibble all you want about the classifications, but as of right now, a little more than a third of people say they're fine with X while 30% are looking at other mass market lines and 26% are looking at luxury lines. 

 

There have always been people "graduating" to the luxury lines, so I don't know if that's very significant.  However, 5 years ago, I think you would have been pretty hard-pressed to find this many people looking to go to other mass market lines.  For many, X was known for food & refinement, and it's what you booked if you were going to book a cruise.  End of story.  Squandering that type of loyalty will prove to be detrimental in the long-term.

[chemmo]

2 hours ago, yorky said:

Personally I find most of the cruises from Southampton a complete rip off. We do tend to book the Caribbean ourselves as flight to Miami tend to be pretty good on the whole.

 

Agree generally re Southampton...However, when I was medically banned from flying for a while I was very grateful for a cruise to Norway and another to the Azores....

 

We tend to book flights about six months out for the best prices/schedules/options. We will consider flying into Orlando/Miami/ Fort Lauderdale and flying out from Manchester and Heathrow. We tend to end up with a spread sheet of options taking into account additional days, hotel costs etc....

 

 

[Luvcrusn]

24 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

There have always been people "graduating" to the luxury lines, so I don't know if that's very significant.  However, 5 years ago, I think you would have been pretty hard-pressed to find this many people looking to go to other mass market lines.  For many, X was known for food & refinement, and it's what you booked if you were going to book a cruise.  End of story.  Squandering that type of loyalty will prove to be detrimental in the long-term.

I couldn't agree more! We rarely have shopped other lines once we decided that a cruise would be our next vacation. However with the current price jumps and booking strategies X has implemented over the past 2 months, we will most certainly shop before blindly booking with X. Once you've encouraged your customer base to shop, you risk losing a percentage of them. How large a percentage will depend on the market. X is betting that the new passengers they will attract will surpass the number they lose. I don't know if that's a good bet. Time will tell. X has certainly caused us to change our strategy of booking blindly and booking early. We'll most likely book any future cruises with X after final payment and forego our favorite hump Aqua Class cabins in favor of more favorable pricing...if we book with X at all.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Luvcrusn

[deliver42]

So far, the S and M Classes remain competitive. It's the Edge Class that's driving me crazy.I wanted to book a 7 day Carib on either the Edge or the Apex for 2020, but the prices are way above what I want to spend. I'll enjoy my Equinox cruise this year, and see what the future holds. Right now I booked the MSC Meraviglis for Dec, 2020. If X comes down to reality, that could change. What bothers me most, I that the Edge Class is all that's offered for a 7 day once the Apex comes out.

[Dawniepoo]

9 hours ago, sailco said:

You seriously rate Princess above Celebrity?

I seriously do. 

[deliver42]

I've been on Princess, and am going again in May, but I don't think Princess is better than Royal. Been on Regal, and going on Ruby.

[villauk]

1 hour ago, chemmo said:

 

Agree generally re Southampton...However, when I was medically banned from flying for a while I was very grateful for a cruise to Norway and another to the Azores....

 

We tend to book flights about six months out for the best prices/schedules/options. We will consider flying into Orlando/Miami/ Fort Lauderdale and flying out from Manchester and Heathrow. We tend to end up with a spread sheet of options taking into account additional days, hotel costs etc....

 

 

 

 

We’ve been flying out of Dublin as it’s so much easier going through US immigration there and walking off as a domestic passenger once you hit the US. We go straight into the lounge and board from there. After having awful waits when landing in the US previously, we found it to be far less stressful 😉.

[hcat]

The poll inquiry is a somewhat " loaded question"...as it presumes cruisers are in fact considering other lines because of X pricing...

 

Might have asked are you considering other lines b/c of X pricing or other reason, ...and if so, what lines?  

 

Small difference,  but our answer would be no...nothing out there that we can afford interests us ...DH did like the new X Galapagos ship, Flora. .Maybe when our lottery numbers are called!

 

Also,   would be helpful to know if the poll  respondents are traditional long time Celeb customers,  or folks who shop around ..

 

Interesting anyhow!

[happy cruzer]

The poll also leaves out those who always shop around for the best value.  Prices fluctuate on all the lines at different times.  Seems as though every line continually tries to raise the fare then runs sales. 

[villauk]

2 hours ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

Booked an Aqua cabin on Millennium for July 2020 at less than a balcony on Princess - with 2 perks. X still sometimes a good deal.

 

 

And I booked 13 nights on Princess for less than 7 nights on X; so the moral of the story is to check all the different options available - something many may have not done previously 👍.

[Wiltonian]

Unless you can book late, Celebrity’s prices for European cruises have become very high in the past two years, even without the Edge premium. Our first four cruises were with Celebrity; last autumn we went with Cunard, and our next four are all with P&O or Cunard. Celebrity is probably better than P&O, but not twice as good! Celebrity is different to Cunard, but not significantly better overall.  The £’s fall against the $ hasn’t helped, of course.

 

Stuart

Edited April 16, 2019 by Wiltonian

[Denny01]

Still booking Celebrity. Did an Edge B2B and loved it - booked while on cruise last year right after it opened up so pricing was good. Will wait for it to drop in price more, but loved the whole Edge approach, including the Infinite Balcony.  

 

Not sure how Southampton cruises are a ripoff. Doing a TA in Oct and going to spend a week in Cornwall/Devon area prior and then cruise across with stops in Boston/NYC/Bermuda/FLL. Excellent pricing, as are most TA’s. And have done the Baltic and two around the UK from Southampton. Just fine for us. Stayed in Winchester and other places nearby. 

 

As for Luxury Lines, we tried a Crystal cruise last Dec. Loved the ship and it was not badly priced being a week out of New Orleans and just the standard Mex ports of call. I think it was priced to bring in us “MassMarkets”. Did it to see if ‘luxury’ was worth it. It was very nice, but being Elite Plus and getting the deals of paid gratuities and unlimited internet help Celebrity approach ‘luxury’ for us. My wife won’t do it again - ship is pretty small and we hit very bad weather in the Gulf heading back to NO and the result was a lot of rolling and pitching - well beyond what we’ve experienced, so she wants to stick with 2000+ ships but not huge ones. 

 

We are expanding our vacationing more: doing another River cruise this May up the Rhine on Viking. But as voted, sticking with Celebrity. Booked two while on the Edge cruise: one a NE/Canada cruise in Oct 2020 and the Japan to Vancouver in April 2021. Both decently priced. In fact the NE/Canada cruise is the same price as what we paid two years ago for the same itinerary so except for the E-Class, I don’t really see the pricing changing that much. But I’m not running a full ‘study’ on it. 

 

Den

[clskinsfan]

My wife and I have been tossing around the idea of trying Viking ocean next. We have had a couple of different friends sail with them. And both said it was by far the best cruise experience they have ever had. It is more expensive. But when you add in what is included not by much. Airfare, excursions, specialty restaurants and everything else is included. And the passenger load is smaller. Less than 1000 pax per sailing. Seems like the way cruising used to be to us.

[weregoingcruising]

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