How much more are you willing to pay for ...?

[dadroy]

You present us with not really two options, AI or leave it as is, but a third, which is pay as you go. Many of the responses to your post have indicated posters do not want to pay for other peoples alcohol or dining, but they apparently like the other included items.

 

For example, I love the classical music played before dinner. I would pay extra for it, but others would, I am sure, eliminate this to save money on the cruise fare. I do not use the pool, I would love tot pay less and they could eliminate the pool. I do not attend the shows, eliminate them and lower my cruise fare.

 

Of course I am being a little dramatic here, but the point is that we have a hybrid of all inclusive (shows, other entertainment) they things you pay for. Even the AI resorts (have never been on one) have additional fees for some services. Spa treatments I am sure are not included in most AI rates for example.

 

I think I get a good bargain on cruises and am willing to pay for my own drinks, gambling, shore excursions, specialty dining etc. If it were to really get to a point where other things on the ship were additional charges, I would probably go back to more land based vacations.

[VermeulT]

I've looked at Silversea... I like the idea of not having to think about my spending... it's all laid out up front.

Not that I'd drink more - but excursions - if you take them, would add up. And if it were an itinerary where I would potentially do many excursions - then it makes the $$ comparison even closer.

 

So for HAL - I think it's fine the way it is.

[gelo7]

I like things just the way they are.

[falcon10156]

I do not like anything that is all-inclusive at a hight rate. As many others have said they are light drinkers or dont drink at all. I dont want to have to pay for those that drink alot.

 

Also how fair would it be for Friends of Bill W or family with children (who cant drink alcohol) to pay for those that want to drink.

 

I like it the way it is now.

[bepsf]

...but it would be a nice change if HAL were to go "All Inclusive" - It would certainly set them apart from other mainstream lines, and could help to bring fare prices up to where it might be possible to keep the smaller ships profitable and bring service back levels up to where they were in the recent past.

[sail7seas]

We booked the Silversea cruise back in February of this year so at the time we made the decision HAL had not announced their new smoking policy so that was not an issue. Right now Silversea permits smoking in their cabins but not on their verandas which you know from my personal posts makes a whole lot more sense to us. Public areas are more or less comparable to HAL with some limited smoking permitted in some bars and not in others and no smoking in any of the eating venues. The decision was based on the fact that the itineraries available within our cruising window. A big deciding factor was that the Prinsendam cruise we were looking at went to Egypt and my wife's security clearance with the government did not allow her to visit Egypt. This is kind of an on again, off again situation and I'm not sure exactly what the status is today but it wasn't worth the chance for us.

 

As for the cabin we picked a Medallion Suite. It's maybe 25 square feet or so smaller than a deluxe on the S and R class ships. I don't know exactly when but I think these cabins were added to the smaller Silversea's ships a couple of renovations ago so they might be new in terms of when you visited. There are a couple of cabin categories above the Medallion, one of which is kind of between the HAL deluxe suite and penthouse and another that's pretty much comparable to HAL's penthouse suite. The cost goes up considerably for those and I've been led to believe Silversea isn't into upgrading per se so I'm pretty sure we'll stay right where we're at.

 

Right now there isn't much to report in terms of perceived differences between HAL and Silversea. We're some 85 days out from the cruise as I type this and have paid our final payment, actually paid that at about the 120 day mark as I recall. We've really not changed our cruise planning process, etc., because of the cruise line and have made our own arrangements for transport to and from the cruise and pre and post cruise hotel arrangements so I can't speak to whether or not Silversea is better or worse or whatever than HAL on those aspects. I've had a couple of minor questions and I've been able, either through a phone call or email, to get those answered quickly and efficiently. So far so good.

 

 

Thanks, Randy.

 

Great response.

I REALLY hope you'll post some comments here when you return.

Hope you have a wonderful voyage.

 

[santa fe]

I am a moderate drinker, but on vacation, i don't have to drive so i could relax and enjoy may be one or more drinks.

 

Some posters said they don't want to subsidize the heavy drinkers...i agree...but as a drinker i feel that by the high price they charge for the booze...i subsidize the non-drinkers

 

I don't like AI but i would appreciate to pay a decent price for alcoolic beverage.

[bet410]

My indulgence is soda. I have no interest in subsidizing someone else's beverages. I am perfectly happy to pay for what I like to drink and let others pay for what they like. I realize that the price I pay for my sodas is high, but it is my choice to purchase them or not.

[jkrislc]

I'm not a heavy drinker (maybe one a day on a cruise; 1 every three months at home), so I concur with others. However, I wonder if bar sales would increase if they just shaved a $1 or $2 off their drink prices. Would they make it up in volume? As an example, my DW had a few virgin cocktails on Disney largely because they were reasonably priced ($2.95). On HAL, the same drink was $3.95. Still reasonable by land standards, but she only ended up buying one on HAL whereas she had several on Disney.

 

What I would like to see is perhaps soda including in the dining room as it once was when I started cruising and perhaps house wine with dinner, even if it were just a single glass. But then again, I'm not sure how much more I'd be willing to pay for this. Probably no more than $5 for me.

 

The benefit of the current model is that you can pay for what you want and not have to pay for those things that you don't want/use/need.

[George C]

would be willing to pay a couple hundred extra for cruise, would pay couple hundred more if it included really good wine.

[Randyk47]

would be willing to pay a couple hundred extra for cruise, would pay couple hundred more if it included really good wine.

 

Which makes me wonder if there might be a market for an "all-inclusive" option? Those who had no interest wouldn't be paying for somebody's heavy or heavier drinking. I'd also make it basically "top drawer", not just well liquors or low end wines but not super high end of either. Even Silversea has limits in that you're not going to drink 100 year old brandy or $100 bottle of wine (shore value, not inflated ship cost). I'd not make it like a drink or soda card....charge enough up front and don't count drinks or sodas or value there of.

[George C]

we have done many "all-inclusive" resorts and some had the top of the line scotch ( 12 year old blend or single malt) also good cognac etc but when it came to wine in was something you could buy for 8 or 9 dollars, on Sandalls had a wine list that was extra and that was a rip-off , with a so so selection. I would except a real good wine list and would pay cost of wine. ( we brought 14 bottles on board including several stags leap - 36 dollar bottles)

[VermeulT]

I'm not a heavy drinker (maybe one a day on a cruise; 1 every three months at home), so I concur with others. However, I wonder if bar sales would increase if they just shaved a $1 or $2 off their drink prices. Would they make it up in volume? As an example, my DW had a few virgin cocktails on Disney largely because they were reasonably priced ($2.95). On HAL, the same drink was $3.95. Still reasonable by land standards, but she only ended up buying one on HAL whereas she had several on Disney..

 

the same question could be for the photo prices..... But that discussion digresses from the current conversation.

[Typhoon1]

It's just fine the way it is.

[smslms]

It's just fine the way it is.

 

100% agree. We drink wine with most meals but I'm happy to pay as I go or buy a wine package if I feel like it.

[jkrislc]

the same question could be for the photo prices..... But that discussion digresses from the current conversation.

 

Yes, especially with the cost involved in printing all of those physical prints.

[RMLincoln]

I also prefer it the way it is....

 

But for discussion's sake, Celebrity offers a drink package, all you want of their mainstream drinks including wine by the glass, up to a $10 drink (so the really extra-fancy drinks were not included, and neither was in-room mini-bar) for $45 per day per person, but you had to buy it for the whole cruise. They were apparently pretty strict about no drink sharing (we did not get the package but were with other CCers who did).

 

They also offered a non-alcoholic package but I don't recall the price exactly, maybe $32pp/per day that covered soda, bottled water, speciality coffees and teas. I was not interested in either of these options but was surprised at how popular they seemed to be. I'm sure Celebrity is not losing money on these. My guess is that only a few people "get thier money's worth" considering port days off the ship. But many people seemed to enjoy the convenience of it, just show your card, and feel like you are on vacation. I don't recall how they dealt with the 15% tip, maybe somebody else knows. m--

[jkrislc]

I also prefer it the way it is....

 

But for discussion's sake, Celebrity offers a drink package, all you want of their mainstream drinks including wine by the glass, up to a $10 drink (so the really extra-fancy drinks were not included, and neither was in-room mini-bar) for $45 per day per person, but you had to buy it for the whole cruise. They were apparently pretty strict about no drink sharing (we did not get the package but were with other CCers who did).

For me, that's too expensive as I don't drink enough to cover $45 worth of expenses. At most, I would likely have one or two soda and perhaps two cocktails per day. At regular prices, that's about $20 per day. Now for heavy drinkers, that deal would be a no brainer and probably a better way of going than tacking on the expense for everyone.