Anyone Else Leaving or Considering Leaving RCL Over Prices?

[orville99]

2 hours ago, Candleonwater said:

Nope. I think we all got spoiled by ridiculously low prices in the past.

Probably would have used a different word than spoiled. More likely that people were lulled by 0% interest rates and 1% inflation into the conviction that prices would never change. With overall consumer prices up more than 35% from their pre-covid days, the reality is those prices are never coming back.

[lovesthebeach2]

21 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Probably would have used a different word than spoiled. More likely that people were lulled by 0% interest rates and 1% inflation into the conviction that prices would never change. With overall consumer prices up more than 35% from their pre-covid days, the reality is those prices are never coming back.

I wish there was a choice of a sad face emoji here…but since there isn’t here’s mine ☹️

[island lady]

1 minute ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I wish there was a choice of a sad face emoji here…but since there isn’t here’s mine ☹️

 

Or you could do these.   😭🤕😫😩  They all convey our loss.  😉 

[ILCTCRUISER]

5 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Kind of like what Viking does.   They love to advertise what they DON'T offer.  😉 

Haven’t cruised Viking but constantly checking out itineraries and fares.  What they don’t offer!  Good one!  Here’s what they do offer:  the opportunity to see countless TV ads on Masterpiece!  May upset a few here but guess what?  You pay for those ads when you pay a fare.  No such thing as a free lunch.

Edited March 4 by ILCTCRUISER

[ILCTCRUISER]

4 hours ago, orville99 said:

 

IMHO, seasoned cruisers do not leave a particular cruise line because of anything other than the lack by the cruise line to do anything other than sail, rinse, repeat every other week. 

 

For us, it is the uninspired repetition, not price that is causing us to look (and book) elsewhere. 

Agree wholeheartedly.  Just how many times can you go to Cozumel?

 

However, we do.  We’re up north and we book Caribbean in the winter to get out of the cold.  Half the time we stay on board in port.  Cozumel?  We take orders for vanilla, go off ship, buy vanilla, and get right back on.  Nothing like the few hours when the ship is basically empty.

Edited March 4 by ILCTCRUISER

[orville99]

8 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Agree wholeheartedly.  Just how many times can you go to Cozumel?

Never, if we can avoid it. We try not to book any cruises that go to the western Caribbean unless it is a long voyage down to South America, and Cozumel gets in the way. We rarely leave the ship in that port.

[elcuchio24]

We cruise many different lines and don't have any loyalty to any in particular. We cruise more for the ship and itin. That said, we did a Carnival cruise with some friends in January on Horizon, which they had already booked. Had a blast.

 

But, just booked Wonder of the Seas (for the third time) later on this year. We always get a balcony, the difference in price is probably $1100 more total for the 4 of us on Wonder. But, the kids, and frankly the parents as well, love the ship. Nothing against CCL, but I don't have a problem paying more for a ship we really want to be on. 

[BecciBoo]

Cozumel is our third home! 🥴  We always go to a playa, I love that gorgeous clear aqua water and Nachi service is bar none though we go to others, next stop in 2 weeks to Paradise Beach Club this time.

[kirtihk]

2 hours ago, elcuchio24 said:

We cruise many different lines and don't have any loyalty to any in particular. We cruise more for the ship and itin. That said, we did a Carnival cruise with some friends in January on Horizon, which they had already booked. Had a blast.

 

But, just booked Wonder of the Seas (for the third time) later on this year. We always get a balcony, the difference in price is probably $1100 more total for the 4 of us on Wonder. But, the kids, and frankly the parents as well, love the ship. Nothing against CCL, but I don't have a problem paying more for a ship we really want to be on. 

Your last sentence is an answer to all latest questions related to this thread’s topic!!!  So, leaving annoyed by high pricing crew is replaced with enjoyed cruise experience one!!!

[OCSC Mike]

45 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

next stop in 2 weeks to Paradise Beach Club this time.

 

We're trying it for the 1st time in July. Didn't have the best time at Nachi in October. Quiet and relaxing but some drinks were awful and food was meh. Have heard good things about Paradise Beach. Enjoy!

[mac66]

We are constantly looking at other cruise lines than RC or X but frankly haven't really found any better deals.  Not to mention having to learn all the ins and outs of a different cruise line. 

 

We are Ds on RC, elite on X.   Have sailed NCL 4 times (last in 2016 in Hawaii) and Carnival a few times in the early days.  Had a Princess cruise booked once but I broke my leg 2 days before and had to cancel.

 

We don't do suites, rarely buy specialty restaurants. We're not married to RC/X but still manage to find deals occasionally and are comfortable with their system and ships.

 

We just did an 11 nighter, panama canal/ABC island cruise on X. Wasn't cheap but was a good deal for what it was. Probably the only cruise we are doing this year unless we can find a really good deal with an interesting itinerary.

 

I open to suggestions for better prices, itineraries and cruise experiences from other cruise lines.

[barbeyg]

We also look for variety in ports and sailing different areas.  We mainly sail the Caribbean when there is a great price on a suite, or on a cruise that others we have met here are sailing.  But we prefer sailing other areas.  
 

The majority of our cruises are still with RCI. We really enjoy the energy and the shows, and will continue to sail them when there is a bargain to be found, but I agree that the itineraries have gotten stale. 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

We just booked another B2B, sailing the Caribbean, with X. Because the price was right on a suite.  We now search multiple lines for the best bang for our buck. RCI making changes we didn’t care for, including $$$ increases, encouraged us to do that.  Guess we have them to thank for it. 🙂

[exm]

Diamond on Royal here. Did MSC in 2019, loved it, and am doing another MSC out of Brooklyn next month. It's literally half the price of RC, and considering I'm a family of 5, it adds up. Having said that, I'm also planning a Wonder sailing later this year, mostly because I haven't been on an Oasis Class ship. Wanted to book Icon but pricing there is really out of control.

 

So yes, I am definitely looking around.

[island lady]

21 hours ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

Haven’t cruised Viking but constantly checking out itineraries and fares.  What they don’t offer!  Good one!  Here’s what they do offer:  the opportunity to see countless TV ads on Masterpiece!  May upset a few here but guess what?  You pay for those ads when you pay a fare.  No such thing as a free lunch.

 

Indeed.   And you pay for all the theme/amusement park features on the new mega ships on RCI...even if you don't use them also.  😉 

[Another_Critic]

3 hours ago, exm said:

I'm also planning a Wonder sailing later this year, mostly because I haven't been on an Oasis Class ship. Wanted to book Icon but pricing there is really out of control.

Have you checked Symphony out of Cape Liberty?

[JoieNsk]

19 hours ago, BecciBoo said:

Cozumel is our third home! 🥴  We always go to a playa, I love that gorgeous clear aqua water and Nachi service is bar none though we go to others, next stop in 2 weeks to Paradise Beach Club this time.

I would not call Cozumel a home. But I've been there couple times, and would not mind to go again - some time in January-February, when it is colder in Bahamas. I love snorkeling, and though it is not the best there - it is decent. 

 

I am just very particular I guess. I need 4-5 day cruise only, as I still work, and can't afford to take off more days for a "beach" or "just ship experience" type of cruise. I am saving my PTO for Europe and other exciting stuff.

 

But if I get a cabin I want for the right price (right for me) - I would go there happily. I just can't seem to find the right combination with any cruise line - so far. 

 

 

Edited March 5 by JoieNsk

[JoieNsk]

About Viking - for us personally, I hate their payment policy. And for that reason I don't think we will ever do any ocean cruises with them. There are too many other great cruise lines in that market sector.

 

But we are trying their river cruise for the first time this year in November. The price was just very good, and we sucked it up and paid full price a year in advance (that's what you need to do with them unfortunately).

 

We don't like "all inclusive" idea many other river cruises do, as we don't drink much on the ship on a river cruise, we don't want to do two excursions per a day etc. Sometimes we just choose to get off the boat and do our own thing. So we'd rather pay as we go. That's why Viking this time.

 

Otherwise even with river cruises - we tried already couple lines, which were possibly better than Viking - in general. But we felt that we were overpaying - for the stuff we didn't want to do.  

 

But that's us.

Edited March 5 by JoieNsk

[island lady]

4 minutes ago, JoieNsk said:

About Viking - for us personally, I hate their payment policy. And for that reason I don't think we will ever do any ocean cruises with them. There are too many other great cruise lines in that market sector.

 

But we are trying their river cruise for the first time this year in November. The price was just very good, and we sucked it up and paid full price a year in advance (that's what you need to do with them unfortunately).

 

We don't like "all inclusive" idea many other river cruises do, as we don't drink much on the ship on a river cruise, we don't want to do two excursions per a day etc. Sometimes we just choose to get off the boat and do our own thing. So we'd rather pay as we go. That's why Viking this time.

 

Otherwise even with river cruises - we tried already couple lines, which were possibly better than Viking - in general. But we felt that we were overpaying - for the stuff we didn't want to do.  

 

But that's us.

 

I would hope you did not book with American Queen Voyages river cruise as an alternative.   We had to pay early with them for our B2B this coming June as well...in full...at time of booking.   Now...they have filed chapter 11 ...doubt I will ever see our money  back again from that one.  

 

I am not so worried about Viking, they are quite a bit more solid.  We loved our 3 week cruise with them last year from Bucharest to Amsterdam.  Now have 5 more bookings with them.  Yes, early pay off...but they do it on purpose since they are so popular and are very small ships that book out early.  Not looking to get burned again, but we love the line.  

 

 

[happy cruzer]

46 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Indeed.   And you pay for all the theme/amusement park features on the new mega ships on RCI...even if you don't use them also.  😉 

Maybe. Every ship has items that have distributed costs.  A water slide may add less per passenger on a mega ship than better dining on smaller lines.  We just focus on the price that includes the items we want,  if there is extra stuff no big deal.

[kruzerci]

3 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

I would hope you did not book with American Queen Voyages river cruise as an alternative.   We had to pay early with them for our B2B this coming June as well...in full...at time of booking.   Now...they have filed chapter 11 ...doubt I will ever see our money  back again from that one.  

 

I am not so worried about Viking, they are quite a bit more solid.  We loved our 3 week cruise with them last year from Bucharest to Amsterdam.  Now have 5 more bookings with them.  Yes, early pay off...but they do it on purpose since they are so popular and are very small ships that book out early.  Not looking to get burned again, but we love the line.  

 

 

Did you file a credit card dispute?

[JoieNsk]

9 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

I would hope you did not book with American Queen Voyages river cruise as an alternative.   We had to pay early with them for our B2B this coming June as well...in full...at time of booking.   Now...they have filed chapter 11 ...doubt I will ever see our money  back again from that one.  

 

I am not so worried about Viking, they are quite a bit more solid.  We loved our 3 week cruise with them last year from Bucharest to Amsterdam.  Now have 5 more bookings with them.  Yes, early pay off...but they do it on purpose since they are so popular and are very small ships that book out early.  Not looking to get burned again, but we love the line.  

 

 

Sorry for the unfortunate situation with American Queen Voyages! I hope you WILL get the money back.

 

But with Viking I am not worried that they will go out of business with our money. They seem to be doing good - at least nowadays.

 

I just hate to give them so much money -  so much in advance. I could have earned interest on those money. Instead they probably are doing it :)))) I find their payment policy extremely irritating. But even with that - I still went ahead and paid :))))) Hopefully they worth it - we will just have to see :))))

Edited March 5 by JoieNsk

[BecciBoo]

19 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

We're trying it for the 1st time in July. Didn't have the best time at Nachi in October. Quiet and relaxing but some drinks were awful and food was meh. Have heard good things about Paradise Beach. Enjoy!

We agree, we've been trying others since Nachi was sold to a new owner I think in 2020.  We went to Allegro Cozumel just south of Nachi through Resort For a Day last September and had a great time, but again somewhat disappointed with food, property was perfection.  We've been to Paradise once before and had a great time, I got so fuzzy I don't remember what the food was like, but booked it again for our Jubilee cruise.

[island lady]

36 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

Did you file a credit card dispute?

 

Not yet.  It has been a year since we paid them in full....and the rules change a bit from what I understand when a company files for bankruptcy.   I am currently going through the hoops they have lined out with their insurance company.  If we get anything at all, it won't be much...if at all probably.  

[BecciBoo]

1 hour ago, JoieNsk said:

I would not call Cozumel a home.

That was an expression and a joke 🙄  Although we've been to Coz probably no less than 20 or so times.  And Palancar Reef in Cozumel is world famous for snorkeling, I wouldn't even classify it is as "decent".  It's fabulous.  I still remember the drift dive we did many years ago.

Edited March 5 by BecciBoo

[island lady]

40 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Maybe. Every ship has items that have distributed costs.  A water slide may add less per passenger on a mega ship than better dining on smaller lines.  We just focus on the price that includes the items we want,  if there is extra stuff no big deal.

 

Pricing for booking Enchantment B2B in a GS compared to newer mega ships.   Giant ouch!! 🤑