Just noticed Carnival excursions went up in price

[Eli_6]

I had purchased a couple of excursions for my self and my husband for our upcoming Europe cruise and then went back to add my sons when I confirmed they wanted to go...and now the price of a child's ticket is the same or more than I previously paid for an adult. I got to looking at other excursions and compared the price I paid a couple of months ago vs the price it was now. Sure enough, they had gone up, too. For example, I had booked the excursion "Rioja Alavesa" in Bilboa, Spain.  I booked it for $150. It is now $170. I guess it isn't surprising that Carnival did this given that they are increasing the price of everything else, but I sort of thought they might announce it or something.  

[Schoifmom]

They aren't going to announce pricing increases 🙂 Would you?  I did notice the same thing a few months ago on our upcoming Alaskan cruise.  it is likely reflective of an increase in the price that they have to pay the tour operators.  I noticed that the cost of non-Carnival excursions has increased as well.

[Eli_6]

3 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

They aren't going to announce pricing increases 🙂 Would you?  I did notice the same thing a few months ago on our upcoming Alaskan cruise.  it is likely reflective of an increase in the price that they have to pay the tour operators.  I noticed that the cost of non-Carnival excursions has increased as well.

Carnival has announced many other price increases.  They announced they were going up on wifi, bottled water, gratuities, CHEERS, steakhouse, etc.  

 

And, yes, when prices for either of the two businesses I have either owned or been involved in the management of were going to go up, we notified our customers rather than trying to sneak in a price increase. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Eli_6

[nascartim]

9 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Carnival has announced many other price increases.  They announced they were going up on wifi, bottled water, gratuities, CHEERS, steakhouse, etc.  

 

And, yes, when prices for either of the two businesses I have either owned or been involved in the management of were going to go up, we notified our customers rather than trying to sneak in a price increase. 

Actually I don't think they did on the water(I could be wrong though), people just noticed it. 

[ColeThornton]

Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that prices are going up for everything considering what global inflation is like.   Grocery prices are up, utilities, gas, you name it.   None of those folks notified me of price increases but I don't feel like they are trying to "sneak in" a price increase.

 

It is what it is.

Edited February 22, 2023 by ColeThornton

[BlerkOne]

42 minutes ago, ColeThornton said:

Shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that prices are going up for everything considering what global inflation is like.   Grocery prices are up, utilities, gas, you name it.   None of those folks notified me of price increases but I don't feel like they are trying to "sneak in" a price increase.

 

It is what it is.

Exactly. The grocery store didn't notify me when they raised the price or pork or eggs. Or the gas station. or anyone else. Airfares are horrible. When their costs go up, they pass them along.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Excursions I booked back in Dec are now $30 more per person.  That's a crazy increase.

 

Good luck Carnival filling the spots up. 

[EllieinNJ]

We have been patiently waiting for the excursions to post for our June Norway cruise.  They finally came out today and I'm stunned by the prices.  Some are triple of what you could book directly.  Only I heard that in Norway the cruise ships buy all the local excursions and you may not be able to diy.  I have a $600 OBC and it might buy me just two excursions.

[Eli_6]

54 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Excursions I booked back in Dec are now $30 more per person.  That's a crazy increase.

 

Good luck Carnival filling the spots up. 

That's my point exactly!  Inflation is 8 percent. Not 20 to 40 percent.  The mark ups were already crazy ridiculous considering how many people they stuff on a bus. One of the excursions is to a castle. The castle admission is $8.50.  Train fare to the castle is $24 round trip  They are pricing the excursion at $199. I am nearly positive it was $149 a few months ago which is already too high for something that you can do on your own and at your own pace for under $35 per person. 

[Eli_6]

14 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

We have been patiently waiting for the excursions to post for our June Norway cruise.  They finally came out today and I'm stunned by the prices.  Some are triple of what you could book directly.  Only I heard that in Norway the cruise ships buy all the local excursions and you may not be able to diy.  I have a $600 OBC and it buy me just two excursions.

Try looking at Sandras cruise tours for Norway. She hasn't posted them for this year yet, but check in a couple of weeks.  

 

But, yeah, same here on the prices being ridiculous. If I booked all four of us on a Carnival excursion at every port of call we are going to for our 12 day cruise, I would be looking at an extra $4k+.  The prices were already high and with these increases, I am definitely going to be looking at outside options in the ports-of-call that I don't already have booked. About half of the ports I went to last year on my Europe trip ended up having a bus or shuttle or something at the port to take you into the main town if the port wasn't located right there either for free or a very small charge...only they didn't tell us that was an option until literally right before we got off the ship.  

[Eli_6]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

Exactly. The grocery store didn't notify me when they raised the price or pork or eggs. Or the gas station. or anyone else. Airfares are horrible. When their costs go up, they pass them along.

That's not a valid comparison and you are smart enough to know it isn't.  Gas and groceries are always based on market price and airfare has always been variable based on demand. Airfare can even vary depending on the day you book it and certainly food prices vary based on market conditions and season.  But many of these other items (CHEERS, steak house, gratuities, certain excursions that are always available on given sailings, etc.) have long had a "fixed" price on the carnival website. One of the excursions we regularly take out of Cozumel has been the same price for years...although, I am sure it has gone up now, too. And I strongly suspect that the tour companies aren't suddenly charging 30 or 40 percent more.  Maybe in Alaska, but not in some of these more depressed countries.  Heck, I don't even fault Carnival for raising the price, but if they were going to raise the prices so significantly and not just to account for inflation, some advanced notice would have been nice...like what they did with wifi, etc.  

 

And with respect to my specific situation (i.e. European countries), the dollar is stronger than ever in those countries so if anything the price should be going down for us.  I paid less in tuition last fall than I had ever paid before because the dollar as compared to the GBP was so strong.

Edited February 22, 2023 by Eli_6

[BlerkOne]

28 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

That's not a valid comparison and you are smart enough to know it isn't.  

.

Oh please. You are smart enough to know inflation does not only impact Carnival and the economy in many other countries is worse than in the US. Europe has been much more impacted by the war than the US. 

 

In looking ahead, it isn't Europe that loses...

 

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/economic-bulletin/focus/2022/html/ecb.ebbox202201_01~4bb2c93b96.en.html#:~:text=For 2023%2C all annual forecasts,sees inflation being below 2%.

[Eli_6]

28 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Oh please. You are smart enough to know inflation does not only impact Carnival and the economy in many other countries is worse than in the US. Europe has been much more impacted by the war than the US. 

 

In looking ahead, it isn't Europe that loses...

 

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/economic-bulletin/focus/2022/html/ecb.ebbox202201_01~4bb2c93b96.en.html#:~:text=For 2023%2C all annual forecasts,sees inflation being below 2%.

The way I read what you posted, it seems to suggest that inflation is less in Europe that the US.  Am I reading this wrong?  Granted that is now a year old and before the Russian invasion... But if inflation is less than would not that mean that prices shouldn't be increasing as much in EU countries as what we are seeing in the US?  

 

At any rate, I am not arguing that inflation doesn't exist or isn't impacting prices. I completely agree that it is. I just suspect that some of the more dramatic increases (like the$149 to $199) is more about Carnival paying down their debt and less about what the cruise operators are charging. I doubt that the people on the ground driving the buses and conducting the tours are seeing a 33 percent increase in their wages. But I guess it is either increase the "extras" or increase the fares and they don't seem like they are increasing the fares much...

[Joanne G.]

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

. . . . .About half of the ports I went to last year on my Europe trip ended up having a bus or shuttle or something at the port to take you into the main town if the port wasn't located right there either for free or a very small charge...only they didn't tell us that was an option until literally right before we got off the ship.  

By chance were Copenhagen and Nynashamn (for Stockholm) among the ports you visited where a shuttle was available into the main part of town?   I could probably handle public transportation for Copenhagen, but we will apparently be some distance from Stockholm city center, and currently Carnival is offering no excursions at all.   

 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

3 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

That's my point exactly!  Inflation is 8 percent. Not 20 to 40 percent.  The mark ups were already crazy ridiculous considering how many people they stuff on a bus. One of the excursions is to a castle. The castle admission is $8.50.  Train fare to the castle is $24 round trip  They are pricing the excursion at $199. I am nearly positive it was $149 a few months ago which is already too high for something that you can do on your own and at your own pace for under $35 per person. 

If they get people to pay it, then good for them, I guess. 

[Mic101680]

Keep in mind that Carnival may have had to increase their excursion pricing to keep the same profit margin because the tour operators they partner with likely have increased their pricing. Yes, it sucks, but this is something that's not necessarily all Carnival's doing.

[Pellaz]

In January, I paid $119 for a one-stop snorkeling excursion by boat in Bimini, through Royal Caribbean directly.   In the past, on Carnival, a similar excursion has cost me around $70 in (say) Cozumel, Grand Cayman or Aruba.   

--Maybe Carnival is raising prices to what other cruise lines routinely charge?   It would be a shame...but somewhat understandable with inflation and rising costs. 

 

For $119 on Carnival, I've purchased snuba excursions...and in some cases there'd be some money left over afterward.   

[sammee]

Last March,2022, I paid 359.99 for regular cabana on HMC. It's priced at 499.99 for my upcoming November cruise. I think I'll skip this one. Can't justify that for 2 people. An extra 50, I may have. I realize prices are rising, but 140 extra. a clam shell and a float will suit me fine.

[Megan_Strick]

I'm always so confused as to why people say Carnival went up on prices. Carnival is just trying to make money, etc.  I mean duh. They are a for profit company. Their vendors go up on them so they have to pass it along. 

 

I get the same comment from my customers. When vendors go up on people the company has to as well. They aren't in business to give charity cruises or services.

 

Also, its ALL cruise lines and all industries. 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

Given that cruising is a luxury item, in fine with charging what the market can bare. Prices will even out with demand.  Or, if demand isn't there for a price point above costs, it'll no longer be offered. Time will tell. 

 

However; the prices ARE shocking. Not just carnival, or cruising, it's everywhere. And, worth talking about, in general.  So, when someone notices a sharp price hike, post it.

[audcc77]

26 minutes ago, sammee said:

Last March,2022, I paid 359.99 for regular cabana on HMC. It's priced at 499.99 for my upcoming November cruise. I think I'll skip this one. Can't justify that for 2 people. An extra 50, I may have. I realize prices are rising, but 140 extra. a clam shell and a float will suit me fine.

😞 Ugh.  I was wondering about this. 
 

That’s going to really hard to justify as we pay that for 2 people as well.  
 

In fact, we only use it until 2 o’clock usually.  
 

 

[sammee]

21 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

😞 Ugh.  I was wondering about this. 
 

That’s going to really hard to justify as we pay that for 2 people as well.  
 

In fact, we only use it until 2 o’clock usually.  
 

 

Same here. If other family members were going, I'd think about it.

[staceyglow]

Carnival can charge whatever price they want. If you don't want to pay what Carnival is asking, don't book the excursion. If everyone does that, they have no choice but to lower the price. If people pay it anyway, then raising the price was a good business decision. 

 

If you want to support local tour companies, book a third party excursion. You pay less and the local folks make more. 

[Megan_Strick]

1 hour ago, staceyglow said:

Carnival can charge whatever price they want. If you don't want to pay what Carnival is asking, don't book the excursion. If everyone does that, they have no choice but to lower the price. If people pay it anyway, then raising the price was a good business decision. 

 

If you want to support local tour companies, book a third party excursion. You pay less and the local folks make more. 

But you also have to remember that if you are late getting back to the ship from a private tour the ship will not wait for you unlike if you were late from a Carnival tour. I know there is a price difference but I'd rather pay $50 more with Carnival than have to pay my own way home from a foreign country.

[Bound4Bermuda]

New to Carnival, but Royal Caribbean constantly changes the prices of their excursions based on demand. Not to mention they finagle the prices to prepare for “sales” that look like you’re getting a certain discount off but may end up being the same price. But other sales actually are sales—you never know! It’s not unusual for RCI cruisers to regularly check prices of everything (cruise, excursions, drink and dining packages, etc) just to see whether this week is a better deal than last week’s price. One thing I’ve noticed is that RCI’s excursions are never cheaper than what you paid if you already have it booked just so people won’t cancel them and rebook. But I have absolutely missed a deal, looking at a price, didn’t book yet, and then the next day is more. So based on my experience with RCI, I’m actually shocked to hear that people expect that Carnival has long-standing prices that don’t fluctuate, like pretty much everything else in the tourism industry (e.g., hotels, airfare) does.