Royal May Charge for Some Entertainment on Quantum

[Tony O]

Just saw this article online at Sea trader:

 

http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/godmother-adviser-chenoweth-to-help-reveal-quantum-entertainment.html

[cb at sea]

If anyone pays an "upcharge" for entertainment, then expect it on ALL ships, sooner or later. A cruise is getting to be less and less of a "good deal"...fewer and fewer things are "included" in your fare anymore. Sign of the times, I quess.

[worldspan]

Don't you love how that article, no doubt a RCCI press release, slips in the statement about "possible up charges" in the middle of the article!

 

The deterioration of the cruise, the race to the bottom marches on!

 

Worldspan

134 cruises strong

[bouhunter]

Entertainment on a cruise is a low priority for us. No way we'll EVER pay to see a show on a ship.

[BND]

Because of course what they're charging for a cruise on Quantum isn't enough:eek:

 

I think the fact that a cruise on Quantum costs twice what most cruises cost should more than cover the cost of entertainment, but that' just me LOL

 

I personally think this will backfire. As long as there are free things to do on a ship, they will never sell out for entertainment, unless they're booking A list concerts or performers which they won't due to cost. And an upcharge can be $5 or $50. $5 a lot of people might be willing to spend, $50, not so much, but there are plenty that won't even pay $5 on top of what the cruise costs.

 

We pretty much go to the shows because they are there and are pretty good, but we could just as easily skip shows, which we have in the past for other reasons.

Edited June 6, 2014 by BND

[DragonOfTheSeas]

It depends on what the entertainment is. You pay extra for some entertainment now. For example, mystery dinner theater, character breakfast. I know both of these involve food, but the food is nothing special. The character breakfast is the exact same food as other breakfast guests get for free.

[Tyron]

Just saw this article online at Sea trader:

 

http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/godmother-adviser-chenoweth-to-help-reveal-quantum-entertainment.html

 

They've completely lost their minds!!! :mad::rolleyes:

[SnappyNappi]

Entertainment on a cruise is a low priority for us. No way we'll EVER pay to see a show on a ship.

I have to agree with bouhunter... I can understand the small up-charges for specialty restaurants and why some enjoy a special meal or a few special meals on the ship outside of the 'included' dining venues. However, I don't see myself ever paying for entertainment. It just just not that important to us when we are cruising. There is so much to do on a ship, even where the broadway shows are included, we simply would rather do other onboard - more cruise like - activities. I am sure that there are definitely some that will pay, but I can't see these being big venue programs or big-sellers on a ship.

 

I could be wrong, I know some will disagree, just my humble opinion... :)

[starfish216]

If the cruise industry finds that guest are willing to pay an 'up charge' for certain experiences then it will become the norm. But if they try to 'up charge' and find guest are uninterested and the venue remains not filled to capacity the cruise industry may rethink the idea of 'up charging' for those experiences.

 

I have been on three RC cruises in the past year, EOS twice and Oasis. The only 'up-charging' that I am aware of has been in the area of dinning. On all three cruises the 'up-charged' venues used for dinning looked empty, they just never seemed to be many guest in there. Now I didn't sit outside the venue and monitor the activity 24/7 but I would occasionally take a look as we passed by. I also sail off peak so I don't know if that makes a difference.

 

So my thought is if the cruise industry finds that enough guest are willing to pay, than they will more likely 'up-charge' for certain things and make more money. Cause that's what it's all about their bottom line.

 

Just my opinion.

[SnappyNappi]

It depends on what the entertainment is. You pay extra for some entertainment now. For example, mystery dinner theater, character breakfast. I know both of these involve food, but the food is nothing special. The character breakfast is the exact same food as other breakfast guests get for free.

This is a very good point DragonofTheSeas... hadn't thought about it in these terms. I haven't done either of these things on a ship and consider them specialty dining, but can see where they could be considered 'entertainment'.

[George C]

For a really good show I could see spending a few dollars, I do not see much differnce between this and the pay resturants on the ships.

[rclibertygirl5]

We don't go to most of the shows now (Only the AquaTheater) and I certainly wouldn't go if I had to pay. We frequent the specialty restaurants so it is not that we are unwilling to pay for something extra but entertainment would definitely not fall into that category.

[steveru621]

Very interesting, thanks for the update.

 

I see this as a natural progression of paying more to get more. You really don't need anything more than an inside cabin to cruise, but I, like others are willing to pay more for a balcony. We tried Chops and we weren't impressed enough to give it our endorsement. It remains to be seen if I'm willing to pay more to get a 'name brand' celebrity entertainer, or even if RCI can attract a name big enough for me part with more cash.

 

So long as RCI supplies the basics that they have always provided, the market will ultimately decide whether any of this works.

[spookwife]

unless I am paying to see the London Cast of CATS or the latest Cirq du Soleil incarnation, no way. I don't see the free ones as it is.

[MADflyer]

They state that it is in a secondary venue. I have been looking at the placement of the Diamond 'Club' and the Music Hall and thinking that they could be thinking to do some events where Diamonds and above could move into the Music Hall, while it might require reservations for others or something like this. This would be an added enhancement for the upper tiers of their loyalty program.

Edited June 6, 2014 by MADflyer

[akcruz]

Aren't there some NCL ships where they charge for entertainment? If they can make it work I am sure other lines will follow unfortunately. :(

[mbjboyle]

It depends on what the entertainment is. You pay extra for some entertainment now. For example, mystery dinner theater, character breakfast. I know both of these involve food, but the food is nothing special. The character breakfast is the exact same food as other breakfast guests get for free.

 

Good point... the indication that this "possible upcharge" would be for a "secondary venue," most likely Two70º; which doubles as a lounge. Most likely the upcharge will include food/drinks, or some variation therein.

[Beardface]

I'm going on the Oasis in 3 weeks and my wife and I have already agreed that we're not there for the entertainment, or at the very least, not Hairspray, which is what I'm assuming they'd charge for.

 

We'll go to the Aquatheater and the comedy show, and thats it. If they were going to charge us to go to either, we would avoid.

 

There's too many other free things to do on the ships nowadays for us to pay to do any of it.

[MADflyer]

Aren't there some NCL ships where they charge for entertainment? If they can make it work I am sure other lines will follow unfortunately. :(

 

Yes, they added 'Wine lovers, the Musical' that combines entertainment with wine tasting.

 

The 'Illusionarium' magic dinner show proved to be one of the Norwegian Getaway's most popular features.

[bigque]

I went on my first cruise (3 day Bahamas) after pricing in what I would spend over 3 days in Myrtle Beach or Hilton Head and saw that a 3 day cruise would be cheaper when I factored in the cost of meals, hotel and ENTERTAINMENT.

 

With that said we have skipped many of the shows because we did not think they were all that, so we certainly would not pay to see any of them, other than possibly the Ice Show which we enjoyed!

[roe2ship]

Another Wow!:rolleyes: I was afraid something like this may happen. Between Dynamic Dining and possible charges for entertainment....Royal is sounding more and more alike with NCL.

 

Hopefully it will be with just one or two shows and the charges will be "a small nominal fee":rolleyes::D

[SailingSiggy]

The 'Illusionarium' magic dinner show proved to be one of the Norwegian Getaway's most popular features.

 

And as stated in an earlier post, that is all it takes to open the door to doing this sort of thing industry wide.

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Forums mobile app

[MADflyer]

SeaTrade appear to have editorialized a little and seem to base their story on information that is not contained in the RCI press release or how it was picked up by Cruise Industry News.

 

http://www.royalcaribbeanpresscenter.com/press-release/1103/kristin-chenoweth-plays-expanded-role-with-royal-caribbean-as-quantum-experience-advisor-for-entertainment/

 

http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/11192-kristen-chenoweth-named-entertainment-advisor-for-royal-caribbean.html

[SailingSiggy]

I hope that is all it is. Or they have inside information and are leaking something that is not supposed to be out until next week.

 

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[LMaxwell]

While I recognize that cruising is not ALL-inclusive, it traditionally has been MOSTLY-inclusive. The more cruising moves away from that model the more I am inclined to explore entirely different ways to spend my money. Cruising is not cheap, but it is a good value.

 

I guess if you won't pay for a show you can go hang out in the casino or any number of bars. It's all about pushing people to a revenue generating spot.