Is anyone else reluctant to commit far ahead to cruises now?

[LMaxwell]

With so many changes over the past few months at all the mainstream, US operations based cruise lines, is anyone else feeling reluctant to commit deposits more than 6 months or a year out?  There are too many changes and downgrades occurring too quickly to feel confident that what I book today is what I will receive at time of sailing.  Usually we have anywhere from 4-6 cruises lined up with deposits stretching out 18+ months.  Currently I only have 1 deposit far ahead for a short cruise, and not excited to make others. Looking at some of the big ticket ones that would run 10K+ for unique destinations. 

[Julma]

I am.  

[cw2go]

21 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

With so many changes over the past few months at all the mainstream, US operations based cruise lines, is anyone else feeling reluctant to commit deposits more than 6 months or a year out?  There are too many changes and downgrades occurring too quickly to feel confident that what I book today is what I will receive at time of sailing.  Usually we have anywhere from 4-6 cruises lined up with deposits stretching out 18+ months.  Currently I only have 1 deposit far ahead for a short cruise, and not excited to make others. Looking at some of the big ticket ones that would run 10K+ for unique destinations. 

 

Personally, I am not too concerned. I'll just roll with the changes at sea as I do by land. If the cruise is destination driven which most times for me, it is then that's what I'll focus on. 

I am not bored of Celebrities itineraries because I still find so much more to do and see with their offerings. 

As for the cut backs, they just suck to be blunt but they're also in everything I do and everyplace I go. Have done several lands trips this past year to places we've visited previously and the difference in quality, quantity and vibe were vastly different. So for me I see that I have a choice to accept what is out there and do my best to enjoy it or stay home... I am not ready to do the latter. 

 

I currently have 9 cruises booked with Celebrity, out till Feb 2025 

I'm sure that I'll feel some of the changes but I plan to enjoy all of them. 

 

Patty 

Edited January 5, 2023 by cw2go

[CruisinNole]

I hate to say it, but I feel the same way. Like the OP,  by now, we usually have 4 or 5 cruises booked but now only have one booked for March. We're not booking another cruise until we see how the changes affect our experience.

[ymncruise]

Yes, I only book a few months to weeks out. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

quite frankly yes. I have 3 booked now and was going to book a Celebrity cruise last night until I read about the buffet area. I'm going to wait a bit and see if that is a one off or it's the new norm.

 

My wife and I tend to eat in the buffet a lot during our cruises . Just not into getting dressed up every night anymore.

[ABoatNerd]

I have cruised since 1989. I have 0 cruises booked and do not foresee any reason to book any. I like cruising, hence I check CC from time to time.

I have discovered Mighty Trains and my trips now include train travel with customized tour guides, unique hotels and local food. These trips are so much more rewarding in terms of geography, meeting people, history, food etc.

Cruising is too blah, repetitive, regimented and isolating for me. My declining number of friends who still cruise note the very obvious downgrades and that is turning them off as well. 

I can travel anyway I want as I have the resources, but considering that I have cruised from 1989 onwards, the cruise industry changes have turned me off. 

Enjoy whatever travel you choose.

[jelayne]

We have 7  cruises booked over the next 15 months and we will see how it goes.  The recent changes have little impact on us as we don’t use room service and don’t eat dinner in the buffet.  The  prices increasing is happening in everything from food to insurance.  
 

Our biggest concern regarding travel is the prices airlines are charging.  All of our cruises involve flying and most start and or end overseas.  
One way flights that were $800-900 last year are now over $2kpp.  

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

47 minutes ago, cw2go said:

 

Personally, I am not too concerned. I'll just roll with the changes at sea as I do by land. If the cruise is destination driven which most times for me, it is then that's what I'll focus on. 

I am not bored of Celebrities itineraries because I still find so much more to do and see with their offerings. 

As for the cut backs, they just suck to be blunt but they're also in everything I do and everyplace I go. Have done several lands trips this past year to places we've visited previously and the difference in quality, quantity and vibe were vastly different. So for me I see that I have a choice to accept what is out there and do my best to enjoy it or stay home... I am not ready to do the latter. 

 

I currently have 9 cruises booked with Celebrity, out till Feb 2025 

I'm sure that I'll feel some of the changes but I plan to enjoy all of them. 

 

Patty 

In complete agreement Patty!

[cmaleblanc]

I think these uncertain times really help to solidify the importance of getting a TA and a refundable deposit. I think we'll still book in advance to take advantage of the discounts and lower rates you can get, but we'll use a refund to drop out before final payments if the changes continue to happen. I'll also continue to use my TA for trips. They keep an eye to make sure we get the best deal, but they are amazing if we want to change anything. They've worked wonders for us even after final payments. 

 

[basenji56]

I expect the prices to go up so I am booked 2-3 years in advance with refundable deposits or small nonrefundable deposits 

[mafig]

I have nothing booked.  🤔

[chemmo]

28 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We have 7  cruises booked over the next 15 months and we will see how it goes.  The recent changes have little impact on us as we don’t use room service and don’t eat dinner in the buffet.  The  prices increasing is happening in everything from food to insurance.  
 

Our biggest concern regarding travel is the prices airlines are charging.  All of our cruises involve flying and most start and or end overseas.  
One way flights that were $800-900 last year are now over $2kpp.  

Agree, with some physical disabilities business class flights are a necessity not a luxury for us for long haul. Whilst accepting some price increases on cruise costs and possibly some reduction in product provided seems almost an inevitability to cost of business flights is becoming prohibitive….

[gizmodog]

I am

[FlyingAnchor]

50 minutes ago, ABoatNerd said:

I have discovered Mighty Trains and my trips now include train travel with customized tour guides, unique hotels and local food.

I have so many train trips I'd love to do based off of this show! Do you set the guides/hotels/food up all by yourself or are there TAs that specialize in this type of vacation? 

[PTC DAWG]

I have a cruise booked on the Ascent next January, in a Sky Suite..I have no worries.  

 

Also 3 other cruises booked on two different lines this year.  

Edited January 5, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[jelayne]

2 minutes ago, chemmo said:

Agree, with some physical disabilities business class flights are a necessity not a luxury for us for long haul. Whilst accepting some price increases on cruise costs and possibly some reduction in product provided seems almost an inevitability to cost of business flights is becoming prohibitive….

We aren’t flying business class any more $5-8,000 pp for 1 way to Rome.  We are moving to premium economy, and that’s $2-4 pp

[newtocruiseinblue]

1 hour ago, LMaxwell said:

With so many changes over the past few months at all the mainstream, US operations based cruise lines, is anyone else feeling reluctant to commit deposits more than 6 months or a year out?  There are too many changes and downgrades occurring too quickly to feel confident that what I book today is what I will receive at time of sailing.  Usually we have anywhere from 4-6 cruises lined up with deposits stretching out 18+ months.  Currently I only have 1 deposit far ahead for a short cruise, and not excited to make others. Looking at some of the big ticket ones that would run 10K+ for unique destinations. 

Absolute love booking far in advance! Do you think prices might go down in the future? Probably not and, if they do, I can rebook. Plus, I can get the best airfare prices by booking ahead. so glad that we booked our summer 2023 cruise to Greece last April when no one knew what summer 2022 was going to look like in the cruising world. We got a great price and always included. Booked airfare for at least $600-$1500 pp LESS than it is today and bought shore excursions before prices went up. We can't cancel now - we got a great deal! The staff did such an amazing job on our Mediterranean cruise last summer that little adjustments here or there are not going to bother me. I'm there for the ports and to see the world- not for a second lobster tail in the dining room. ☺️

[Homosassa]

It is not so much the changes in the cruise experience as our ages.

 

We haven't stopped buying green banana yet, but I am more reluctant to put money on trips that are more than six months out.

[Ken the cruiser]

Unfortunately, we are cruiseaholics and need to continually feed our addiction. 😂 

 

As such we have quite a few future cruises (21) booked with various cruise lines (see signature area), even as far out as Mar 2025. But they are all booked with refundable deposits, so not too worried. But then we also have cruised over 170 days between Celebrity, Princess and NCL since cruising started back up and have always had a great time on all of the ships we've be on, especially on the ones with the longer more unique itineraries (see some of my recent Live From threads in my signature area).

 

TBH we really haven't noticed that many changes and/or downgrades on any of our cruises so far. But we really haven't been looking. We are Elite+ on Celebrity and as long as we continue to each get 2 free bags of laundry per leg we're good. We're almost Elite on Princess and soon we'll have unlimited laundry with them as well. Our most recent surprise was the double NCL Latitudes points we got on our 38-day Africa cruise last month which moved us up to Platinum which, you guessed it, gets us each 1 free bag of laundry per leg plus they now also give military 10% off on cruise fares!

 

But, again, for us it's all about the itinerary which are usually 3-5 weeks in length.

[LB_NJ]

Based on all of this I DO NOT TRUST Royal or Celebrity to maintain any standards.  I have 2 cruises booked this month on Celebrity and got an unbelievably cheap TA on Royal (I expect poor service but the repositioning cruise was so cheap I would not expect anything else).

 

After that no more cruises on Celebrity for at least a year until I fully understand what they will provide in the way of food and experience.

 

Why pay lots of money for terrible service.  There are so many other ways to enjoy a vacation.

[bikerunner]

No worries at all.  The changes are not major for me, I know others feel different.  I never use room service, easy enough to go get my coffee/tea in the morning at Bacio.  I like the walk (rarely use elevators).  Plenty of food to have and not bring in the room, honestly room is for storing clothes and sleeping and sometimes a shower there, mostly take them in the gym after using the Thermal/Persian which I tend to always get even if Im not in an AQ room.  Not worried about the OVC and the buffet as long as pizza late night is available.  I travel with my friend who is a vegetarian so we mostly eat in the restaurants since she will have more choices with the separate Vegetarian that is available.  

 

The  main hiccup on cruising now is like some others mentioned the Flights. I have 2 cruises on Celebrity booked this year and a TA next year.  Damm work gets in the way, way to often.  

[hubofhockey]

I have not cruised since before Covid started, or at least until Covid made it the US in November of 2019, when we did SE Asia.  We missed Galapagos on the new Silverseas ship and Japan on Azamara.  I am finally ready to book Japan for 2024 on Celebrity.  I do think cruise ships create the perfect storm for circulating Covid, but life goes on.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Honestly I think my July cruise on the Summit to Bermuda will likely be my final Celebrity - which makes me sad since I'd hoped it would be my alternative to Disney. And if the July cruise wasn't going to finally use up a $450 NRD I was stupid enough to make I'd probably cancel it. 

 

The biggest sticking point for me is that I'd booked an evening excursion for my birthday that would not allow me to eat in the MDR. I had planned to spend morning/early afternoon at Horseshoe Bay and then grab something in the buffet for dinner after getting cleaned up and before leaving for the evening one - but it sounds like that won't really be much of an option. And I'm gluten-free and have always been told to avoid room service because it's not prepared in an allergy-safe kitchen or section of a kitchen, so even budgeting for that wouldn't help. So now I'm stuck either cancelling the excursion to be able to eat or going on the excursion with an empty stomach (not sure what if any food options there will be on Horseshoe Bay for lunch).

 

Not cool, Celebrity. Yes, Disney may be more expensive, but I know what I'm getting with them and I know the quality is there. Looks like the Mouse will have my cruising money going forward.

[Homosassa]

2 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Honestly I think my July cruise on the Summit to Bermuda will likely be my final Celebrity - which makes me sad since I'd hoped it would be my alternative to Disney. And if the July cruise wasn't going to finally use up a $450 NRD I was stupid enough to make I'd probably cancel it. 

 

The biggest sticking point for me is that I'd booked an evening excursion for my birthday that would not allow me to eat in the MDR. I had planned to spend morning/early afternoon at Horseshoe Bay and then grab something in the buffet for dinner after getting cleaned up and before leaving for the evening one - but it sounds like that won't really be much of an option. And I'm gluten-free and have always been told to avoid room service because it's not prepared in an allergy-safe kitchen or section of a kitchen, so even budgeting for that wouldn't help. So now I'm stuck either cancelling the excursion to be able to eat or going on the excursion with an empty stomach (not sure what if any food options there will be on Horseshoe Bay for lunch).

 

Not cool, Celebrity. Yes, Disney may be more expensive, but I know what I'm getting with them and I know the quality is there. Looks like the Mouse will have my cruising money going forward.

Such a lot of drama for someone who may be trying Celebrity for the first time.

 

Celebrity provides gluten free food in the buffet. Depending on the ship, it is in a well marked section of the buffet or the gluten free items are labeled and put in with the similar food items (desserts with desserts, main entrees with other mains).

 

Do not believe all the sky are falling posts or rumor spreader posts from some posters who are known for those type of posts.

 

You will have  a selection of GF food in the buffet.