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Carnival Continues To Cutback

Cruiseathoning

By Cruiseathoning,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Cruiseathoning

Cruiseathoning

Posted
Posted (edited)

and does so transparently and respectfully in an effort to keep pricing competitive, and there are 7 dayers out of Galveston on the Magical Magic for $379 still.

 

Compare this to Royal who cuts back AND raises pricing and according to my research, is dropping the ball on customer service.

 

Sorry about losing lobster on shorter cruises, but if scallops and risotto and orange duck do not qualify as fine dining, perhaps the lobster is just a convenient target, and not a legit concern.

 

Now back to that price point-that is a 7 day cruise for the cost of a mid-range hotel for one night in Manhattan. Still concerned about lobster, especially in light of high end offerings they are still trying to provide?

 

In an era where three regular season baseball tickets can cost more than half of the double occupancy of a cruise, Carnival still provides the middle class an opportunity to do something truly awesome. Don't like it? Go to Disney World. But cash out your 401k first.

 

I wish Carnival was not in this position, but I appreciate the effort to be upfront and keep pricing budget friendly, which they are. Royal is not. The Navigator is going for a lot more from a year ago, per Mr. Fain's warning. But unlike Carnival you are getting less and paying more.

 

What Carnival is doing and providing is nothing short of a logistical miracle, and a tribute to the commitment of providing passenger happiness.

 

When they stop guaranteeing your vacation, then worry. But if you can't have fun on a (smoke-free) Carnival ship, you probably just are not the fun kind.

Edited by Cruiseathoning
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legion3

legion3

Posted
Posted

No I disagree with this "smoke-free" Carnival, to be honest these " small areas away form the action, are neither. Still too much smoke.

 

That said I agree Carnival is a great deal and will still cruise.

 

NCL's prices have also gone up a great deal.

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Towel Critter

Towel Critter

Posted
Posted

Prices may still be low, for a particular category, out of a particular port, and for a few select Journey's cruises, but my eyes tell me balcony stateroom prices and ocean view prices in general, especially from Florida ports, are on the rise. I don't know about inside cabins. I don't look at those. I'm just not willing to give Carnival my blessing to raise prices. On top of Carnival raising prices, airlines have been doing it too, both at a time when oil is lower than it's been in quite a while. The two together are a double whammy. I can deal with cutbacks, if they are indeed an attempt to keep cruises at a price level I, and other working middle class folks, can still manage. But prices going up, simultaneously with cutbacks, don't give me the warm fuzzies. I'm as big a Carnival fan as anyone, but to give them my blessing for what they are doing would be counterproductive and somewhat naïve. Yes, they are still cheaper than RCCL, but that means nothing to me, since I don't cruise with them. I do cruise with Carnival, so their prices are the ones that matter to me. Might their prices go back down a bit? Yes, they may, especially if they have a hard time filling up big white ships. Giving them my blessing wouldn't exactly encourage price drops. It's perfectly okay and even rational to be a fan of a product and still be unhappy with changes within that product. Carnival may price me out of cruising with them, and that's certainly their prerogative to do so, but I'm darn sure not going to pat them on the back for it. JMHO.

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ASchaff

ASchaff

Posted
Posted

I can get an annual pass with Disney for less than the cost of a single person on a 3-4 night cruise. Not inly that, my week long trip to Key Largo cost less than my weeklong cruise....just sayin.

 

Anyway, sure, you are getting a decent deal, but people do have a right to be upset when things they look forward to, and believed they were paying for get cut.

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aflyingbuttress

aflyingbuttress

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I agree with your overall point but I think you are comparing things that are not particularly comparable (carnival cruise vs baseball tickets). I don't think those are really quite the same. If your goal is to convince people who disagree with you to change their tune, comparing dissimilar things won't do it.

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Retired_to_Cruise

Retired_to_Cruise

Posted
Posted
Prices may still be low, for a particular category, out of a particular port, and for a few select Journey's cruises, but my eyes tell me balcony stateroom prices and ocean view prices in general, especially from Florida ports, are on the rise. I don't know about inside cabins. I don't look at those. I'm just not willing to give Carnival my blessing to raise prices. On top of Carnival raising prices, airlines have been doing it too, both at a time when oil is lower than it's been in quite a while. The two together are a double whammy. I can deal with cutbacks, if they are indeed an attempt to keep cruises at a price level I, and other working middle class folks, can still manage. But prices going up, simultaneously with cutbacks, don't give me the warm fuzzies. I'm as big a Carnival fan as anyone, but to give them my blessing for what they are doing would be counterproductive and somewhat naïve. Yes, they are still cheaper than RCCL, but that means nothing to me, since I don't cruise with them. I do cruise with Carnival, so their prices are the ones that matter to me. Might their prices go back down a bit? Yes, they may, especially if they have a hard time filling up big white ships. Giving them my blessing wouldn't exactly encourage price drops. It's perfectly okay and even rational to be a fan of a product and still be unhappy with changes within that product. Carnival may price me out of cruising with them, and that's certainly their prerogative to do so, but I'm darn sure not going to pat them on the back for it. JMHO.

 

I have 5 cruises booked on Carnival between now and November of 2016, and I have not seen any indication that prices are going up any more than would be reasonable based on the increases in the commodities that they buy for use on the ships or the booking rates for the individual cruises. And that is very little. I constantly check for price reductions since I have booked every one of these cruises as Early Saver. While I have not received any drops to date, the biggest difference I have seen between my costs and the current pricing is $20.00 for the entire cruise, not per day. On three of my cruises, all of the balcony cabins at the level I have booked are sold out, so we are probably seeing the normal price creep that occurs as the ships fill up. Just like you see on the airlines as the seats fill up. Oh, by the way, 4 of the cruises are out of Miami and the 5th is out of Fort Lauderdale. That's in Florida!

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SadieN

SadieN

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Posted
I can get an annual pass with Disney for less than the cost of a single person on a 3-4 night cruise. Not inly that, my week long trip to Key Largo cost less than my weeklong cruise....just sayin.

 

Anyway, sure, you are getting a decent deal, but people do have a right to be upset when things they look forward to, and believed they were paying for get cut.

 

 

Not out West. Disney passports are $300, $550 or $780 per person. Only the most expensive includes parking. Only high season cruises are more than the cheapest cruise and Disney doesn't include food.

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joepeka

joepeka

Posted
Posted (edited)
We cruise both Royal & Carnival & it seems Royal is going downhill to us.

 

Our last two cruises were on RCI, with mostly everything prior on Carnival, so we don't have a long RCI history to compare "now" versus "then". However, I've spent a lot of time on the RCI board the last couple of years and read posts of relatively long time RCI cruisers expressing much disappointment in the rising prices and the declining product. For us, the short story is we've already determined that after two tries, we won't be sailing RCI again and will probably be sticking with Carnival.

Edited by joepeka
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CJinFLA00

CJinFLA00

Posted
Posted
I can get an annual pass with Disney for less than the cost of a single person on a 3-4 night cruise. Not inly that, my week long trip to Key Largo cost less than my weeklong cruise....just sayin.

 

Anyway, sure, you are getting a decent deal, but people do have a right to be upset when things they look forward to, and believed they were paying for get cut.

 

 

Where you getting your pass? Black market? I'm Florida resident and it's about $698. Unless you get the useless black out dates pass.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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ASchaff

ASchaff

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Posted
Not out West. Disney passports are $300, $550 or $780 per person. Only the most expensive includes parking. Only high season cruises are more than the cheapest cruise and Disney doesn't include food.

 

Here you can get a pass, for under $400, and that covers parking. You do have to pay for food, but that is reasonably priced if you are smart about it.

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ASchaff

ASchaff

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Posted
Where you getting your pass? Black market? I'm Florida resident and it's about $698. Unless you get the useless black out dates pass.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Straight off the Disney website. My renewal price, had I chosen to do it when I expire here in 2 weeks is $400. If you're paying $700 for a Florida resident annual pass, you're being taken. The PREMIUM pass is more, but I don't golf, so it is not one I get. Mine might be a bit less because I have had it for years. My cousin has the annual pass, this being his second year, and pays $38/month for the annual, no blackouts, free parking, 10% discount.

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GottaLuvCruising

GottaLuvCruising

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What Carnival is doing and providing is nothing short of a logistical miracle, and a tribute to the commitment of providing passenger happiness.

 

 

In January, we are doing the Dream B2B Journey cruises for a total of 21 days. A week after we get home, we are sailing RCI's Allure of the Seas for 7 days.

 

The total we paid for our Carnival cruises is only slightly more than our RCI cruise. We'll enjoy both, but Carnival is, IMHO, by far the better value.

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aflyingbuttress

aflyingbuttress

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It is comparing apples to oranges.

 

Disney pass gets me 365 days of entertainment at 1.15/day. A cruise is a week of all inclusive.

 

Well, I love Disney world so that sounds like an awesome deal to me. But I'd probably base the cost on how many days I actually go. Still sounds like a great deal but like you said it's apples to oranges and most people probably have to pay a lot more than that to go to Disney. Honestly, I'd take a Disney vacation over a cruise any day, but I have never been able to come up with a figure even remotely close to the cost of a cruise.

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