Just booked my first cruise in 17 years... Help!

[Mum2Mercury]

14 hours ago, SoloAlaska said:

Doesn’t sound like you got a great deal.

Yikes!  I missed that price!  2K for 4 nights?  No, that's not a great deal ... is it for Presidents' Day or something?  I can't understand why February would be so expensive.  

14 hours ago, LACruiser5 said:

It might be because I'm just now booking for this February. Seems like you get better deals when you book further out. 

Yeah, booking well in advance OR last minute (which has its own set of problems) are both time-honored ways to get the best price.  Keep an eye on your booking; it's possible -- but not probable -- you'll see a last-minute price drop.  We're in an odd "expensive bubble" right now.  Personally, I think things'll go down, but it won't be by February.  

[LACruiser5]

3 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Yikes!  I missed that price!  2K for 4 nights?  No, that's not a great deal ... is it for Presidents' Day or something?  I can't understand why February would be so expensive.  

That does include the cabin (but not gratuities) plus the wifi and 2 non-alcoholic beverage packages and the beach thing at CocoCay, but yeah, for a 4 night trip I still feel like that is a lot. It was $1500 without all those things 😞  I've always wanted to do CocoCay, but not thrilled with options in the Bahamas.  No way I'm paying $500+ more to spend a day at Atlantis 😞  I didn't realize it would cost so much. By the time I'm done, I almost could have booked an all-inclusive for longer.

 

16 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Keep an eye on your booking; it's possible -- but not probable -- you'll see a last-minute price drop. 

These were Black Friday prices so...If the price goes down, will they give me back the difference?

Hope I don't end up canceling. 

[kruzerci]

Be prepared. The food and overall quality is nothing like it was 17 years ago. Don’t go in with the same expectation. IMO the crowd has also changed. The price for a cruise is roughly the same now as it was 17 years ago combatted with inflation. That that as you may. 

[Mum2Mercury]

2 hours ago, LACruiser5 said:

That does include the cabin (but not gratuities) plus the wifi and 2 non-alcoholic beverage packages and the beach thing at CocoCay, but yeah, for a 4 night trip I still feel like that is a lot. It was $1500 without all those things 😞  I've always wanted to do CocoCay, but not thrilled with options in the Bahamas.  No way I'm paying $500+ more to spend a day at Atlantis 😞  I didn't realize it would cost so much. By the time I'm done, I almost could have booked an all-inclusive for longer.

 

These were Black Friday prices so...If the price goes down, will they give me back the difference?

Hope I don't end up canceling. 

I love Coco Cay.  

Not interested in Atlantis.  Will never get off the ship in Nasasu again.  

59 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

Be prepared. The food and overall quality is nothing like it was 17 years ago. Don’t go in with the same expectation. IMO the crowd has also changed. The price for a cruise is roughly the same now as it was 17 years ago combatted with inflation. That that as you may. 

Abraham Lincoln said, "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." 

People on this board whine a lot, yet continue cruising -- what does that tell you?  

[mjkacmom]

21 hours ago, LACruiser5 said:

This was 40 years ago.  There were no surcharges for food of ANY kind. You could pretty much order anything you wanted in the main dining rooms and if they had it, they served it to you. This was on Holland America and NCL which is what we cruised on mostly. 

And prices were very high.

[Tree_skier]

2 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

And prices were very high.

This is something that a lot of people are overlooking with the current increase in prices.  I just checked the price on a cruise that was comparable to my first cruise ever almost 17 years ago.  We paid $1500 for an inside cabin on Serenade of the Seas for the 3rd week of July going to Alaska out of Vancouver.

 

Currently, Radiance will be doing the mirror copies of that cruise and an inside cabin is $2000. That's not to bad considering how much prices have increased over the last decade and a half. 

[Mum2Mercury]

20 hours ago, kruzerci said:

Be prepared. The food and overall quality is nothing like it was 17 years ago. Don’t go in with the same expectation ...

Nah, 17 years ago the food was GOOD ... with the occasional +1 or -1 here and there. 

Today the food is still GOOD ... with the occasional +1 or -1 here and there.  

[cruisinfanatic]

On 11/29/2023 at 12:05 PM, LACruiser5 said:

Wow, times have changed since I last cruised! My husband and I took a 10 day cruise 17 years ago and it was his first (my 7th). He got Norovirus on day 3 and was deathly ill the rest of the trip. I got it on day 9.  I've finally (kind of) convinced him to try again.  

We are booked on the Allure for a 4 night cruise. I booked during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales & it seemed like a decent deal at first.  

Once I booked, I looked at the add-on options because it was the last day of the cruise. WOW! They now nickel & dime you to death! Everything that was once included is now extra.  By the time I finished with just "basic" upgrades (Wifi for 1 w/ 2 devices), 2 Refreshment packages (non-alcoholic), and  Hideaway Beach passes ($58 total-1/2 price) for CocoCay and my "total" expenses are up to $2042 for a 4 night cruise (including gratuities). Then I noticed that there were 8 restaurants not included for dinner and I've read that things like sushi and lobster are no longer served in the "free" restaurants at all. Years ago, you could order surf & turf every night...on the menu or not. Is this accurate? 

 

On the refreshment package, would I be wise to cancel one of  those? My husband normally only drinks plain black coffee, sweet tea, water or the occasional Ginger Beer (do they have that & is it included?).  He might enjoy a milk shake a couple times. Any idea of the price of a milk shake? I, on the other hand, don't drink any soda, but love my coffee drinks and can drink virgin pina coladas and daiquiries all day long so I think it's worth the extra $120.00...maybe?  

 

So what was free 17 yrs ago that is not now?