dada2199cc

On 3/13/2023 at 12:16 PM, F27TW said:

This is also called "gouging".    This is really  no different whatsoever than after a disaster of some kind, businesses raising the prices on water, lumber, baby formula, general supplies, etc. "because demand increases".  That's looked at as being a heinous practice.. yet its OK when RC does it?     Why?

 

 

Because that's how markets work.

Gouging actually PREVENTS shortages from occurring.  Whenever there's a massive weather problem coming up, I actually have been known to go and buy 1000 gallons of water because I can.  If stores were allowed to "gouge" and raise prices to meet demand, then I wouldn't buy even 5, but everyone could get some water.

Also, "gouging" occurs when businesses don't know if their business will dry up momentarily.  Water store has a hurricane coming.  They have 500 gallons of water left and may get zero gallons more for a month, so raising the price of water lets them pay rent.

Just because your feelings say it's wrong doesn't mean it's wrong.

4 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

If passengers RUM run does this effect your math and you investment in Royal...Asking for a friend who is both a cruiser and investor.

I hope folks are smart enough to do that, but in my experience the ones who I know that rum run actually end up spending more money buying booze than a drink package would have cost them.

so I’d say that works in my favor.

4 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I've lost count of how many times you've posted this. Trying to get a rise out of someone?

It’s also the truth.

I am certainly not here to share secrets but to find ways to maximize *my* enjoyment.

If it comes at a cost to you that you absorb voluntarily, sounds like we both win.

Also many of us here are shareholders, right?  Don’t we want the company to be more profitable?

Whenever RCCL raises prices on non-cruise fare items, I celebrate and email them a thanks.
 

Higher priced a la carte means less pressure to raise cruise base pricing.

That’s best for me since I want to cruise a lot more.

Whatever happens, I hope they don’t get rid of the Majesty of the Seas.

2 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Been in FL seven years now, and you are so wrong. Where in FL is this?

👍

B̴̧͚̤͚̦͍̦̬̟̽̔̚ͅu̸̖̺̇͋͌̏̿y̶͚̩͕̹̜̜̏̿͐̚ ̶͙̝̭̀̄̈́̆̒̔t̴̢̰͖̯̦̰̖̿̓̑̾͐̽͌̑͝͝ḩ̴̺̙̱̮̇̅e̸͔͇̥͚̳̱̮̮͙͐̅̔͗ͅṁ̷̧͚̹̭̺̇̈́̊́͌ ̸̩͚̻̖̖͎̘̃́̃͂n̷̨̥̩̦͕̻͌̊̃̕̚o̵̡̪̭̭͔̺͕̰̪̽̌̐̂̃̈́͗̈̀w̷̨̝̠̟̓̄͋̌̈́̊͊͘͠͝ ̶͙̺͖̖̂͊̔͑̌͆̓͠ả̵̢̱̞̤͇̩̜̤̃n̶̢̠̗͓̺̻̣̠͒̏ͅd̸̺̯̀͛̆̔̄̔ ̶͕̯̗̏̄̎i̷̳̒͑̀̋f̷̰̈́͐̔̋̈́̚ ̵̡̭͎̻͎͈̔̎̄͒̒ţ̴̞̳̘̳̗̮̃̋̽ͅh̵͔̱̹̮̣̟́̐̋̌̓e̴̻͖̺̩̳̭̦͔͕̋͜ ̸̟͕̀̆͂͊̎p̸̲̒͊́̽̚r̸̻͇̘̘̻̭̾̈́̀͋̀i̸̻͚̮̓̂̌ç̷̙̺̬͓̙̙̈́́̆̆̽̀͜͜͜ȇ̷̪̜̞͉̒s̴͙̾̑̏͋́͋͐̊̍ ̶̤̊̇͑̀̎́̿͘͝͠ď̵̨̧̖̬͎̪̰̻̹̃̀̎̌̃̀͆͝r̷̺̗͎͕̫͓̺͖̈́̃͐̓o̴̝̯̳̝͚̭̬̥̟̎̏͋̈͑̾̆̓̂͘p̸͉͈̹͔̩̜̉͛̿̈̓̃̕,̵̢̹̭͕̰͕̒̊̇́̍͛͘ ̵̲̯̥̙̟̺̼̻̝͒̓͝ý̷̡̙̰̈͂̂͐̽̈́̎̚ơ̷̝͇͍̍̐͗̑̅̾̕u̶̩̯͇̥͕̅̄̅̓̃ ̷̢̥̟̳̜͉̠̺͍̫̿̐̓̚͠c̵̙̩̋͂a̴̢̛̗̺͐̇̀̆̃̿̓̀n̷̟͈͙̿͋̐̽̉̑̎͂̈́͝ ̵̛͔̞͋͐̀̎̓̔̑ċ̷̗̫͑̍͌̈́͑̅͊̔ã̴̻̰̰̰̲̺̞̖͕̺̇̽̐͛͊n̶̡̞̺̦̓̓̄̀̑̕ͅĉ̴̥͋́̃̃̕ͅe̷̟͈̞̦͔̽̂̽̌͐̆̒͝͝l̸̳̣͎̙̄͋͋̂͝ͅ ̶̢̛̲͖̫͎̰͖͉͎̋̈́̇̽̒̒̏̿̋ả̴̖̠̝̞̹͕̳̚ͅn̷̳̙͈̳͖̣̜̔͒̽̍d̵͍͔̝̼̗͚͕͂̍̓̑͗͋̀ ̷̹͕̻̏̐͝ŕ̵͕̣͋̅͑̔͊̕é̶͚͈̰͍͔̖͔̼͂̍̈́̆̈b̵̻̭̪͓͈̠͂͊͗̄o̴̗̱̙͖̦͆̀͛̿̓̽͂ͅô̶̮̪̥̫̝̮͋̑̔̀͋̓k̴͍͕̒̅͝.̷̨̨̩̥̬̰̥̹̖́̓̔̌͝

Will be on Odyssey Saturday and am curious to see how it rolls out!

I’m booking more.

Higher prices mean less of the Carnival boombox and stabbing crowd.  Hope the other lines drop prices to bring them over.

I did the MDR for the first time in 5 years on Freedom last week and the changes were awesome.  I usually do Unlimited Dining Package on the 10-12 cruises a year I do, but the MDR menu was just great!

I ended up on a bear cruise.

It was horrifying. 
 

I made it very very clear on the ship that the cruise line needed to fix this with immediacy or terminate the occupancy of some guests who were repeatedly doing things in public areas and in public hot tubs that were unsanitary.

By day 3 they refunded my cruise entirely and by day 6 I had a free cruise coming.

Sadly, the free cruise with that cruise line was actually worse, so I stopped cruising with them.

As for @reallyitsmema, your responses are hilariously wrong.  You did say it makes sense to research kosher cruises.  I would do no such thing.

Royal's IT is consistently inconsistent™!

In truth, I miss the Majesty.  What an amazing ship, but the crew was legendary and loved their jobs.

Skeet shooting on a cruise sounds very dangerous for a guy like me ...

... I wear shorts in the MDR and on formal night ...

... I smoke on the balcony ...

... I wave my sea pass card around and yell DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM ...

... I cancel my auto tips ...

... and I press all the elevator buttons for every floor .

I invest the insurance policy value for every cruise and flight I take, and now I'm at a point where the investment could start paying for my cruises and flights if it was in a dividend ETF.

14 years of socking away that $80 here, $230 there, and it's become a sizeable investment.

Insurance is gambling for those who are bad at math but Trust The Experts™.  Even as I get older, it still makes no sense to me.  Maybe if I traveled only once a year?  

Boarded into the suite lounge on Symphony last month as a JS.

Didn’t try any other amenities as nothing really made us want to.

If you run out of money on a cruise, you’re way overplaying your bankroll.  Do a risk of ruin calculation at 85% house and 400 bets per hour and however many hours you play per cruise and drop your bets A LOT.

Also we do room charges because my travel credit card pays a nice return!  Since we budget about $1500 each (bets maxed at $1.50 or 1/1000), that’s $90 cash back on the advance, and when we get home we pay it off with whatever we brought back plus savings transfer.

Our first time playing on a cruise ship casino ever (240 C&A points, too).

1/1000 bankroll bet kept us in the games all week.  This is over 2 cruises, 2 people.  Now that I saw the general variance, next time we go it’s 1/2000 bankroll bet.  This is on slots.

Goal was just to have fun (we are in our 40s, zero debt, zero kids, zero pets and are realizing we will leave this world with enough and won’t leave it to any heirs), make Prime, see what kind of comps we might get.

First cruise, her: 2200 points (not Prime), instant cruise certificate booked, one hand pay, she left up about $1300.

First cruise, me: 3000 points, Prime, instant cruise certificate booked, no hand pays, down $1050 but I won $1300 on craps but I’m ignoring it.

Second cruise, her: made it to 2900 points, got Prime, no instant cruise, no hand pay, she left up $200.

Second cruise, me: 1501 points more, instant cruise certificate booked, no hand pays, down $330 with my money plus lost $400 with money friends gave me to spin for them (on video).

We will combine our Prime annual cruises into one free cruise in 2024.

Verdict: 3 free cruises, Prime for both until March 31, 2024, total lost combined about $280 betting low bets against our bankroll.

We use Diamond Plus drinks for waters and coffees during the day and one cocktail each at dinner.  Free casino booze is maybe 2 extra drinks a night walking thru, or say $50 per night in free booze X 50 nights a year cruising together and me cruising 20 a year solo.

$280 plus time traded for $2000 in cruises and $3000 in booze, plus 30% off internet = worth it.

Ill report back as time goes on, to see how it holds up financially.

Also we didn’t start the Pfizer and made a lot of friends with similar leanings in the casino. Great people!

The surveys on other forums say this doesn't work but once in a blue moon, someone will say they did get the free play.  I don't believe any of them.

Bye Felicia.

I cruise 12-16 times a year and when I leave comments in the survey, I actually thank them for raising prices and cutting benefits so maybe they’ll get rid of the folks I’d rather never see on board.

I want higher prices, fewer freebies and less Crown and Anchor rewards.

Playmakers can do gluten free!

Not sure at Chef’s Table but please write back.

I do UDP every cruise including ships with few specialty restaurants.  We always find big enough menus to cover us well for 8-12 days, including sea day lunches!

2 minutes ago, F27TW said:

 

... You must be an airline executive.   

😂😂😂

Anything “free” raises the prices for everyone even if you don’t partake.  Also, “free” creates unnecessary lines.

On Symphony I never get the free soft serve, but I always buy a few scoops of gelato!

It was worth $2.50 because it got rid of the long lines of freebie seeking vultures.

I hope cruise ships charge for everything a la carte in the future, including boarding times.

10:30 am boarding? $100 more per person.

I AM SO THERE.

Ash/soot on afts.

The 18% gratuity added for this on-board excursion was too much, how do I get it removed?

Also, can we finally wear shorts in 150 because of the water there?