New Fees For Quantum of the Seas

[Thorben-Hendrik]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

Why not? If Odyssey does shorties from Florida, you can bet RCI will be very tempted to do just that.

👍

[PelicanBill]

12 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

I would love to do bumper cars with Matt.  hee hee hee

 

Yell "OY!" every time you bump into him

[PelicanBill]

Even on a 9 day cruise on Anthem, there were a lot of people unhappy that they could not get a slot for iFly on day 3.  I watched a line continually asking for a reservation while I was waiting for the slot I booked ahead in the planner.

 

On that cruise, though North Star was not an issue even though it did not operate the first 2 days of our trip.  There were lots of slots available standby for no shows or under booked times.  

 

Of course you can see the difference in passengers per hour when operating. iFly gets 20 per hour, North Star gets something close to 20 per quarter hour.

[twangster]

17 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

I don't use any of those amenities either but if you think they will drop the cruise fare because of an up charge for the rides you are only kidding yourself. We are already willing to pay the fare and not participate in those activities. The up charge will just be gravy  and I bet the lines will be even longer because if they charge a fee people will want it more, especially if they apply a fake sale. "Book now you can always cancel if the price drops"  The Key is the perfect example of this. People are willing to pay for an expedited embarkation and 9 times out of 10 if you arrive a few minutes later the lines are gone. They are also paying for faster access to the activities.

 

The ship will sell at whatever price it takes to fill it.  The market dictates the price. 

 

By unbundling built in costs they can offer lower fares when needed and make it up with on board charges.  This is the part of the Asian model.  They can go head to head with the competition and offer lower fares when they need to.  If the market is willing to pay more during high demand times such as summer and holidays, fares go up.  

 

All that changes is the range of fares that can be offered.  

[nekzaadvakil]

We just got off the Quantum of the Seas earlier this month. It was a 7 night cruise out of Beijing (Tianjin Port). The charges for North Star were alot more. We paid $20 per adult for a 10 minute session when we booked online. When we were at Guest Services, we were informed that the $20 session just goes up and comes down. If you want to be able to go on both sides, which is where you can really enjoy some good views, we needed to take the extended 17 minute session which was for $40 per person. We did end up buying that since it was the first time on a Quantum class ship.

 

I have plenty of pictures in my review (listed in my signature below)

 

BTW, we also did not have access to the Solarium which was reserved for suite guests. They were allowing us to buy access to the Solarium but the cost of that was $50 per person, per day, and you had to take it for everyday of the cruise. This meant an additional 50 x 2 x 7 = $700 for me and my wife to access the Solarium. 

 

Inspite of this, we had a very very enjoyable cruise. 

 

Nick 

[danv3]

They’re free to charge whatever they want, but trying to spin the addition of a cost to a formerly free activity as “improving guest experience”? 😂

[Clarea]

1 minute ago, danv3 said:

They’re free to charge whatever they want, but trying to spin the addition of a cost to a formerly free activity as “improving guest experience”? 😂

 

Standard operating procedure for Royal.  They alternate the corporate doublespeak between "improving" and "enhancing".

[crzfanatic]

I’m on the November 16 sailing out of Singapore, just after dry dock. I’ll be interested to see how this goes. I’ve been on Several cruises out of Singapore and the guests are from all over, not just China. 

[Joseph2017China]

Show of hands, how many people will actually take an Asian Cruise?  The Asian cruise market is way different than in Europe or USA.  When I cruise in the USA, I cruise for the ship.  When I cruise out of the USA, I cruise for the itinerary, and really don't care much about the activities, or a swimming pool.  I wouldn't pay extra to go up in a capsule, but iFly is fun. Bumper cars line look long, but for a 3 minute ride, with a few minutes for loading, the line moves really fast

[icsys]

On ‎7‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 11:03 AM, kernow said:

We are on Quantum from Singapore next year... 

Currently  the Solarium is only open to Suite guests and higher level C&A, anyone else has to pay a daily fee, again no info if this will continue on Singapore cruises. 

 

1 hour ago, nekzaadvakil said:

We just got off the Quantum of the Seas earlier this month. It was a 7 night cruise out of Beijing (Tianjin Port).

... we also did not have access to the Solarium which was reserved for suite guests. They were allowing us to buy access to the Solarium but the cost of that was $50 per person, per day, and you had to take it for everyday of the cruise. This meant an additional 50 x 2 x 7 = $700 for me and my wife to access the Solarium. 

 

Nick 

 

So unless you are a Suite Guest, the entire solarium is inaccessible? This is meant to be an 'adults only retreat'.

But for $50 per person, per day, payable for the entire cruise, you can buy access? This is taking 'nickel and diming' to the next level.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by icsys

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, icsys said:

So unless you are a Suite Guest, the entire solarium is inaccessible?

Again, those China sailings are quite "different" including limiting Solarium to suite guests.

[kernow]

5 minutes ago, icsys said:

 

 

So unless you are a Suite Guest, the entire solarium is inaccessible?

But for $50 per person, per day for the entire cruise, you can buy access? This is taking 'nickel and diming' to the next level.

 

 

Yes, this is how the ships operate in China, think Spectrum is the same. No one seems to know for certain what will happen from Singapore, looks like we will have to wait until after dry dock to find out.

[Iamcruzin]

10 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

Show of hands, how many people will actually take an Asian Cruise?  The Asian cruise market is way different than in Europe or USA.  When I cruise in the USA, I cruise for the ship.  When I cruise out of the USA, I cruise for the itinerary, and really don't care much about the activities, or a swimming pool.  I wouldn't pay extra to go up in a capsule, but iFly is fun. Bumper cars line look long, but for a 3 minute ride, with a few minutes for loading, the line moves really fast

If I was ever lucky enough to be on an Asian itinerary the extra amenities wouldn't even be a thought in my mind. I certainly wouldn't pay for a panoramic elevator ride.  Northstar wasn't working all week on our 9 day Anthem sailing. We did have reservations when docked at Labadee but we weren't disappointed in any way and it didn't ruin our vacation. I think we used the Solarium on Anthem twice on our 9 day cruise. We enjoyed the views the first day but spent a lot more time enjoying the AFT views in Two70 for pre dinner drinks or late afternoon snacks from the cafe.

[HBE4]

5 hours ago, nekzaadvakil said:

BTW, we also did not have access to the Solarium which was reserved for suite guests. They were allowing us to buy access to the Solarium but the cost of that was $50 per person, per day, and you had to take it for everyday of the cruise. This meant an additional 50 x 2 x 7 = $700 for me and my wife to access the Solarium. 

 

Makes me wonder how much extra it would it have cost to stay in a suite. If $700 gets you almost halfway there, I might be tempted to spend the extra $$$.

[HBE4]

4 hours ago, Host Clarea said:

 

Standard operating procedure for Royal.  They alternate the corporate doublespeak between "improving" and "enhancing".

 

And by "guest experience",  they really mean enhancing "corporate executive experience".

[Clarea]

Just now, HBE4 said:

 

And by "guest experience",  they really mean enhancing "corporate executive experience".

 

Yes.  And "Perfect Day" refers to the corporation's perfect day.

[icsys]

3 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Show of hands, how many people will actually take an Asian Cruise?  The Asian cruise market is way different than in Europe or USA.  When I cruise in the USA, I cruise for the ship.  When I cruise out of the USA, I cruise for the itinerary, and really don't care much about the activities, or a swimming pool.  I wouldn't pay extra to go up in a capsule, but iFly is fun. Bumper cars line look long, but for a 3 minute ride, with a few minutes for loading, the line moves really fast

 

These hands were considering a cruise around China and Japan at some point , but  this latest revelation is a step too far so the answer is currently NO to an Asian cruise on Ovation.

 

[HBE4]

2 minutes ago, icsys said:

3 hours ago, Joseph2017China said:

Show of hands, how many people will actually take an Asian Cruise?  The Asian cruise market is way different than in Europe or USA.  When I cruise in the USA, I cruise for the ship.  When I cruise out of the USA, I cruise for the itinerary, and really don't care much about the activities, or a swimming pool.  I wouldn't pay extra to go up in a capsule, but iFly is fun. Bumper cars line look long, but for a 3 minute ride, with a few minutes for loading, the line moves really fast

 

These hands were considering a cruise around China and Japan at some point , but  this latest revelation is a step too far so the answer is currently NO to an Asian cruise on Ovation.

 

I also thought about it down the road, after Alaska and Europe and another dozen Caribbean cruises.

 

But it seems like it would be a major cultural shock just getting on the ship.

[mugtech]

9 minutes ago, icsys said:

 

These hands were considering a cruise around China and Japan at some point , but  this latest revelation is a step too far so the answer is currently NO to an Asian cruise on Ovation.

 

9 nights or longer and suddenly the rules are the same as Anthem out of NJ.  Cannot imagine you would go to Asia and not take an at least a 9 night cruise out of Singapore or Hong Kong or Tokyo.

[Iamcruzin]

31 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

Makes me wonder how much extra it would it have cost to stay in a suite. If $700 gets you almost halfway there, I might be tempted to spend the extra $$$.

It's fortunate for Royal that most aren't that rational and just pay the inflated prices for all of the extras. 

[Iamcruzin]

28 minutes ago, icsys said:

 

These hands were considering a cruise around China and Japan at some point , but  this latest revelation is a step too far so the answer is currently NO to an Asian cruise on Ovation.

 

You can always try another line if you want to see China via a cruise ship.

[mugtech]

7 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

You can always try another line if you want to see China via a cruise ship.

There are great cruises Singapore to Hong Kong by way of Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam via NCL 11 or 12 nights on Jewel class ships,

[nekzaadvakil]

13 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

Makes me wonder how much extra it would it have cost to stay in a suite. If $700 gets you almost halfway there, I might be tempted to spend the extra $$$.

 

We paid just a little over $700 plus taxes, plus gratuities (per adult) for a Balcony cabin on Deck 9. This was one of the least expensive cruises I've been on. The cost of a suite started at $2000 (per adult). I tracked it for over a month, before they were all sold out. 

[nekzaadvakil]

13 hours ago, icsys said:

 

These hands were considering a cruise around China and Japan at some point , but  this latest revelation is a step too far so the answer is currently NO to an Asian cruise on Ovation.

 

With the Spectrum now out of Shanghai, and the Quantum sailing from Beijing (Tianjin), I think they will slowly keep the Ovation between Australia/New Zealand and Alaska. Anthem between the Caribbean and Europe. 

 

 

[snaefell]

I have read many times on forums where people are calling for all sorts of things(mainly tips & drinks) to be included in the fare instead of separate,the reason being that then everybody pays them,in the case of the Antem repo cruise in April 2020 we were quoted prices with & without a drinks package,the price with the drinks package was £1000 more than without,if that is an indication of how much they would want to add to everybodies fare count me out!