Do people really pay this price per person?

[jagoffee]

I do not believe that people pay $1000 a day per person for a Sky Suite.  

[julia]

Interesting thread.

I have kept an Excel spreadsheet for all of our cruises, dating back to 2001.  It details the dates, cruise line, ship, itinerary, price and perks. I'm surprised at how much I refer to it!

Honestly... $150-$300/pp/pn is right in our range. Always balcony (or better), and in the last ten years, that usually includes drinks, wifi, grats, speciality dining, a shore ex, etc.  Cruising can be expensive (or not), depending on how you structure your trip.  We do not travel to save money, but totally respect those who do.

[mfs2k]

5 hours ago, julia said:

Honestly... $150-$300/pp/pn is right in our range. Always balcony (or better), 

I’ve always been in that range too but I got a great deal on a suite. How much more would you pay to be in a suite and have suite benefits ?

[JFontaine]

I pay a very high per diem to stay in a high level suite. I've tried luxury lines and I go with the cruise that checks the most boxes. It is (mostly) not a financial decision.  

[Fly and Sail]

22 hours ago, mfs2k said:

I booked last year on Beyond for this October.  I was lucky to get a sky suite at a casino rate and am paying $310 per person per night. which is more than I've paid for 11 prior cruises.

I'm looking at the same sky suite pricing now on the same cruise and it's over $1,000 per person per night!! (sale price after discounts)

 

Do people really pay this much for a sky suite on Celebrity?  I know it's all about supply and demand, but this price seems nuts.

 

What are your limits for a Celebrity cabin? 

What's the price point you're looking for, for an Inside, Verandah, Aqua or Sky suite?

 

I was quoted the same as BCC rate and in the end I decided to go for Aqua Class at $140 for one week. Got upgraded to a Sky Suite last December and while nice I wasn't blown away considering the difference in price.

[Whinenowine]

20 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

How about $2,640 (give or take $15) PP/PN in an Iconic Suite.  That's before port fees and insurance. One just popped up on the January 2024 Panama Canal cruise on Beyond.

 

Thought I'd posted this already but apparently CC failed to upload it!  ;(

 

 Anyway, I agree that the pricing for an Iconic suite is a lot. I've been saying all year that I feel some of X's upper level suites are hitting the pricing stratosphere (in the company of, say, Regent, Silversea and Seabourn).  Everyone has their own wants in their cruise line, of course, so many will pay regardless--which is the point of this thread.

 

But playing devil's advocate, that Iconic suite is 1800sqft and has 2BR, so I have to assume it's normally booked by families (of means!) with 4-6 people--this dramatically reduces the price per person, even if the all-in price is still super high.  For example my family of 4 cruised in an E-class CS earlier this year and it worked out to 'only' $335/pp per day; plus we got Luminae, a balcony all 4 of us could comfortably use simultaneously and all the other Retreat perks.  This made it more worthwhile to us than booking 2 CC/AC cabins for almost the same price.  To each their own, I suppose.

[grandgeezer]

3 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

I was quoted the same as BCC rate and in the end I decided to go for Aqua Class at $140 for one week. Got upgraded to a Sky Suite last December and while nice I wasn't blown away considering the difference in price.

We tried a few suites before the pandemic, Grand Suite on the Allure of the Seas, the Deluxe Yacht Club Suite on MSC Seaside twice, and the Sky Suite on the Equinox. The Sky Suite was over $100 p.p. per day more than the other two but we had to see first hand what all the hype was about. It was nice but not worth the extra money. 
Since drinks and internet aren’t wanted, or needed, we wouldn’t consider any pricing in any category as acceptable.

[2chiefs]

On 7/7/2022 at 1:07 PM, Loracpin2 said:

It's all  a magicians "smoke and mirrors"!!!

I agree. Most "sales" start when the previous one ends so they tend to always be in the state of a "special sale". A 60% off for the 2nd person this sale might then be 30% off for all on the next special sale etc....

Edited July 8, 2022 by 2chiefs

[GRBlizz]

How much do you have to spend in the casino to get the "casino rate," and do you include that in your calculation of price per night? 😉

 

[Fly and Sail]

25 minutes ago, GRBlizz said:

How much do you have to spend in the casino to get the "casino rate," and do you include that in your calculation of price per night? 😉

 

 

You get decent offers as an active player after ~ $3-4000+ coin in per cruise which means circulation, not loss. You also get a wholly free cruise as Amethyst after reaching 25,000 points.

 

I totally factor this in. The easiest to gain both points and traceable circulation is slots or video poker. Slots do have the highest breakage however.

[mfs2k]

1 hour ago, GRBlizz said:

How much do you have to spend in the casino to get the "casino rate," and do you include that in your calculation of price per night? 😉

 

 

There is no expectation of play in the casino if you book under a casino rate.  The special rates are based on previous play on board and partnerships with land based casino companies (MGM in my case).   

I do like playing slots, but i do not consider myself a high roller.  It's likely I'll lose money playing slots on board but there's no way I'll lose as much as I'm saving on the cabin.  I have my limits. 

[mfs2k]

1 hour ago, 2chiefs said:

Most "sales" start when the previous one ends so they tend to always be in the state of a "special sale". A 60% off for the 2nd person this sale might then be 30% off for all on the next special sale etc....

 

If your goal is to save money on a cruise, I think the best way to do this is to look for a sailing in 2-3 months and shares similar itineraries with other cruise lines.  Have some flexibility. Book a ship with the most availability and lower prices.  Look for special deals on sailings

We used to always book March Caribbean cruises in December and got some great bargains. 

If you want the newest ship that may be harder to find. 

[Fly and Sail]

4 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

There is no expectation of play in the casino if you book under a casino rate.  The special rates are based on previous play on board and partnerships with land based casino companies (MGM in my case).   

I do like playing slots, but i do not consider myself a high roller.  It's likely I'll lose money playing slots on board but there's no way I'll lose as much as I'm saving on the cabin.  I have my limits. 

 

Did they price you anything special based on MGM play? When I call them to book my NOIR cruise benefit all they do is give me the free Veranda but they never offered me a decent upsell via MGM liaison.

[mfs2k]

Just now, Fly and Sail said:

 

Did they price you anything special based on MGM play? When I call them to book my NOIR cruise benefit all they do is give me the free Veranda but they never offered me a decent upsell via MGM liaison.

 

With MGM Gold, I didn't get a free cruise, but I saved about 50% on a suite and apparently I booked at the best time (last October).

[GRBlizz]

4 hours ago, mfs2k said:

 

There is no expectation of play in the casino if you book under a casino rate.  The special rates are based on previous play on board and partnerships with land based casino companies (MGM in my case).   

I do like playing slots, but i do not consider myself a high roller.  It's likely I'll lose money playing slots on board but there's no way I'll lose as much as I'm saving on the cabin.  I have my limits. 

This is very interesting. May be a strategy we may have to explore, as we recently retired and expect to do a lot more cruising!