OMG The prices to now cruise on Royal Caribbean

[Billy Baltic]

12 minutes ago, Garyjames220 said:

I noticed on royal if 5 of you are going you need two rooms is that right 

 

I know Disney has some rooms that fit 5

 

again this adds thousands more onto it 

Depends on the ship. Some have ultra spacious rooms which hold 6 or you can go with 2 bedroom suites. 

[Garyjames220]

3 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Depends on the ship. Some have ultra spacious rooms which hold 6 or you can go with 2 bedroom suites. 

I was looking at the wonder. Do they have rooms for 5 that aren’t suites 

[firefly333]

4 minutes ago, Garyjames220 said:

I was looking at the wonder. Do they have rooms for 5 that aren’t suites 

If you call and the 5th is small often they will book a 5th into a cabin for 4. (Unlike carnival who will not bend on this). Still will be beds for 4. 

 

[Billy Baltic]

7 minutes ago, Garyjames220 said:

I was looking at the wonder. Do they have rooms for 5 that aren’t suites 

Yes. Search for 4 people and look under interior, ocean view and balcony for ultra spacious. The balconies are great but only a handful on each ship and sell quickly. 

[nelblu]

9 hours ago, Garyjames220 said:

Hey 

 

so I was looking up prices to sail on royal for me, my wife and three year old twin girls. 
 

We have been quite enjoying sailing with Disney cruise Line recently but I thought of trying to add in a royal cruise next year, thinking it could be like half the price, a wee extra trip. I haven’t looked at royals prices for mybe about a year but WOW the prices have rocketed 

 

I was looking and all months for the wonder next year and even with kids sailing for £99 it’s still really costly. I have looked up all different months and I’m very flexible. I always thought Disney were about double the price of royal. Now there is barley anything in it. In fact I normally get the three night dining package as don’t want to eat in the same restaurant each night and I would need a soda package as Disney normally has that in it. If I take that into it I would say some of there cruises are working out more expensive

 

even a 2 night cruise from Southampton next year is like £2000 pounds, not that I would do one that short  

 

I know prices have went up with all companies but WOW I was really shocked with how much by

 

Is anyone else experiencing this or am I missing something?

 

The days of getting a good deal on royal seem to have gone 🙁

I came face to face with the expression of the early bird gets...........  I was looking at Odyssey sailing out of Bayonne on Easter 2025 and the fares since then is basically 55% higher for a balcony cabin for 2.  When I began researching it was $1,929 and now it's $3,000+.

Edited September 6, 2023 by nelblu

[Giantfan13]

Sometimes. you may just have to bite the bullet and not look to book those suites et al. If you want a cheaper cruise, book an inside cabin. (Yes I am really suggesting it).

Also, as the new ships come in, the older ones tend to get a bit cheaper. Not all the time, but seems everyone wants to be on the 'new' ships, and for some of the 'older' ones you can find a bargain.

 

Cheers

Len

[RoperDK]

23 hours ago, George C said:

Look at grand suites on harmony we are paying about 2500 per for end of November, next November still under 3k per for grand suites, we used to do mainly celebrity suites but they are 4K plus . We are doing a celebrity suite for a music charter in March but next November will be harmony or a MSc yacht club.

We may be tempted to try sailing out of Galveston.  It's a bit of a longer drive for us, but maybe a B2B would make it worthwhile.   

[Russ Lomas]

On 9/6/2023 at 9:44 AM, Garyjames220 said:

We have been quite enjoying sailing with Disney cruise Line recently but I thought of trying to add in a royal cruise next year, thinking it could be like half the price, a wee extra trip. I haven’t looked at royals prices for mybe about a year but WOW the prices have rocketed 

 

The days of getting a good deal on royal seem to have gone 🙁

Disney simply has priced itself out of what I consider to be reasonable (for us) to cruise with them and it has always been that way.  Usually they were about triple the cost for the weeks I was looking at with RCCL.

 

RCCL is now charging double to triple what they used to, so if Disney has not raised prices, that would put them both in the same league.  For this reason, we have not booked any further cruises with RCCL (we did have 3 booked that are still upcoming at good prices).

 

For this reason, RCCL has now priced themselves out of what I consider reasonable for a vacation when there are many other choices out there that offer better value.  We have booked with other cruise lines since RCCL has overinflated their rates.

 

Once RCCL rates begin to get reasonable once again (if they ever do), we will be happy to reconsider and book with them in the future.  For now, cruises are being booked with other cruise lines.

 

One thing you should always do is make sure you have a great travel agent and they often have group space available at a fraction of what price you will see on the RCCL website (not always, but often).  May help you if you want a short RCCL cruise if they had blocked off space for a cruise you are looking into prior to RCCL jacking up the rates.

[Eddie Wilson]

On 9/6/2023 at 6:01 PM, Garyjames220 said:

I was looking at the wonder. Do they have rooms for 5 that aren’t suites 

 

If you are price conscious, you may wish to steer away from the new ships for a year or three.

 

For what it’s worth, DW and I did 2 Alaska cruises this summer, one on Princess and one on RCL.  Apples to apples RCL cruise was 80% the cost of Princess.

 

In addition we brought kids and grandkids on RCL.  We almost booked a 5 to a room cabin for them, as we booked this WAY early, they were still available.  But the price for two adjoining ocean view rooms was nearly the same, which provided them lots more room and two bathrooms.  They cherished the two baths over the possibility of one.

 

Last haphazard point about RCL pricing.  I have always been a super in advance scheduler, hoping the early bird routine.  But lately, I find many great deals on the 30-60 days to sail horizon. Of course that is more difficult to wait for certain people and groups.

 

Eddie

[Tree_skier]

On 9/6/2023 at 2:44 PM, Garyjames220 said:

I noticed on royal if 5 of you are going you need two rooms is that right 

 

I know Disney has some rooms that fit 5

 

again this adds thousands more onto it 

No there are rooms that hold 5.  You have to call in or book through a TA to get those.

 

I was just on Navigator in a room that held 6 that was not a suite.  I only had 4 but it would have been fine with 5 or even 6.

Edited September 8, 2023 by Tree_skier

[PACrew]

Looked to book Icon in 2025. $12k for my family if 6 in a balcony. MSC America, 6k for my family in a suite. MSC it is. If Royal comes down, I’ll switch. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by PACrew

[OCSC Mike]

6 minutes ago, PACrew said:

Looked to book Icon in 2025. $12k for my family if 6 in a balcony. MSC America, 6k for my family in a suite. MSC it is. If Royal comes down, I’ll switch. 

Standard online RC prices are generally crazy, no doubt, but I don’t really think you can really compare Icon to anything right now & consider it apples to apples.

[PACrew]

5 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Standard online RC prices are generally crazy, no doubt, but I don’t really think you can really compare Icon to anything right now & consider it apples to apples.

 

I dont think its apples to applies but MSC America will be a brand new ship. Is icon worth and extra $6k. I dont think so at this time. 

[Goodtime Cruizin]

On 9/6/2023 at 8:44 AM, Garyjames220 said:

Hey 

 

so I was looking up prices to sail on royal for me, my wife and three year old twin girls. 
 

We have been quite enjoying sailing with Disney cruise Line recently but I thought of trying to add in a royal cruise next year, thinking it could be like half the price, a wee extra trip. I haven’t looked at royals prices for mybe about a year but WOW the prices have rocketed 

 

I was looking and all months for the wonder next year and even with kids sailing for £99 it’s still really costly. I have looked up all different months and I’m very flexible. I always thought Disney were about double the price of royal. Now there is barley anything in it. In fact I normally get the three night dining package as don’t want to eat in the same restaurant each night and I would need a soda package as Disney normally has that in it. If I take that into it I would say some of there cruises are working out more expensive

 

even a 2 night cruise from Southampton next year is like £2000 pounds, not that I would do one that short  

 

I know prices have went up with all companies but WOW I was really shocked with how much by

 

Is anyone else experiencing this or am I missing something?

 

The days of getting a good deal on royal seem to have gone 🙁

 

They went up to cover the gratuities and pizza. 😉

 

[ONECRUISER]

On 9/6/2023 at 4:06 PM, nelblu said:

I came face to face with the expression of the early bird gets...........  I was looking at Odyssey sailing out of Bayonne on Easter 2025 and the fares since then is basically 55% higher for a balcony cabin for 2.  When I began researching it was $1,929 and now it's $3,000+.

Yep, doing/done 3 Panama Canal Cruises, jumped 75% to 100% higher, now sold out. Price paid for 12n Repo next week same, was really inexpensive compared to what was pre-CV. All these Booked minutes after release. With SOLO prices still scoring on Royal really cant afford to "Jump Ship" yet. Thank you C&A... 

[scooby1]

The think is prices seem all over the place. We booked for next year only a month ago when I look now the price has doubled, that is just crazy and if anyone pays that price good luck to them but we wouldn’t. However the cruise we we went on this year I’m going to say it but the price dropped too low. 
 

the ship was crazy full and some on the cruise you just wouldn’t expect normally, so why such a big swing. The thing o. This years cruise the silly low price was quite far out so it wasn’t as if they have a problem filling it. They have a huge amount of debt to pay back and the shareholders right demand profit but things are just crazy all over the place price wise. 
 

However when I look at NCL, P&O OR similar they are all fairly static and jump around half as much. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

On 9/6/2023 at 6:07 PM, firefly333 said:

If you call and the 5th is small often they will book a 5th into a cabin for 4. (Unlike carnival who will not bend on this). Still will be beds for 4. 

 

How do they get around the fact that you aren't supposed to book more bodies into a room than it ias designed for? I remember before they said that any ship built befor the year 2000 was granfathered in?

[firefly333]

24 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

How do they get around the fact that you aren't supposed to book more bodies into a room than it ias designed for? I remember before they said that any ship built befor the year 2000 was granfathered in?

Idk @Ourusualbeachwould know. I've just seen some who called and they were able to add a baby as a 5th in a cabin. I never asked why. He might know.

[Ourusualbeach]

14 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Idk @Ourusualbeachwould know. I've just seen some who called and they were able to add a baby as a 5th in a cabin. I never asked why. He might know.

You cannot add a baby as a 5th to a cabin.  To sleep 5 that means the sofabed is pulled out and there is no room for a pack n play

 

You can get a baby added to a 2 person double occupancy room. 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Ourusualbeach

[firefly333]

33 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You cannot add a baby as a 5th to a cabin.  To sleep 5 that means the sofabed is pulled out and there is no room for a pack n play

 

You can get a baby added to a 2 person double occupancy room. 

Did they used to allow it before covid? 

[Ourusualbeach]

5 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Did they used to allow it before covid? 

I have never heard of it being done.

[firefly333]

45 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I have never heard of it being done.

I was so sure I had seen posts that people were able but it's been a while, before covid.

[shand32783]

Thank you for posting this.

 

We've been loyal to Royal since 2004 just as casual travelers. Pretty much 1 week, maybe 2 a few years here or there a year. We took some time  off around Covid and finally got back on the horse in Jan of 2023. We realized we missed it...

 

But as I look at prices now, the are so bonkers compared to what we have paid in the past. I know, I know the past is the past, but I thought I was really missing something like they now includes gratuities or something, but man have the prices jumped.

 

I can honesty say, for us, the pricing is such a turnoff right now. $2500-$3000k for a one week cruise with maybe 3 stops? Man it's like getting punched in the nads.

 

Again, thanks for posting as I thought we were missing something but appears this may be the new temporary norm.  Yikes!!! (But great for the balance sheet)

 

I guess I'll sit on the sidelines and wait for a Unicorn. Here's hoping things come back down eventually.

 

Happy cruising to all!

[bucfan2]

7 hours ago, shand32783 said:

wait for a Unicorn. Here's hoping things come back down eventually.

 

 

Lol....Gas prices, taxes, min wages, groceries, cruises, etc etc....all waiting/hoping for a unicorn.  Vegas won't even give odds on that.

[shipshape sam]

On 9/6/2023 at 11:43 AM, hollon said:

Im thinking about moving to another cruiseline if these prices keep going up

Good luck.

 

Industry is projecting 10% passenger growth over next few  years and with that growth, it will be a challenge to find the least price increase.  Demand will be brisk.