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Rollin', rollin' rollin' on a river, and a highway or two.


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39 minutes ago, mr walker said:

Those drink prices look pretty reasonable - wish some of the 'regular' cruise-lines had similar prices ☹️

Just thinking how it's ironic that $A has climbed to almost US80c at a time when we cannot be cruising, as on RC ships I would be drinking more to save more as Uncle Les would say!

P&O have similar prices, and it is in AUD.

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3 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

P&O have similar prices, and it is in AUD.

Good to know. I have been invited on a 4N P&O cruise out of Melb in Dec for my sisters 60th, but not sure if we will go, with current uncertainty & as Dec is difficult time to have leave, with Xmas/New Year just around the corner then. Maybe the drink prices will swing it 🙂 

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34 minutes ago, mr walker said:

Good to know. I have been invited on a 4N P&O cruise out of Melb in Dec for my sisters 60th, but not sure if we will go, with current uncertainty & as Dec is difficult time to have leave, with Xmas/New Year just around the corner then. Maybe the drink prices will swing it 🙂 

On P&O we haven't seen the wine prices as low as on the Proud Mary ($21, $22 and upwards). On our P&O cruises (the last one was not long before the COVID lockdown), the bottle price started at the low $30s - maybe $32 or $33. I always worked on getting three bottles of wine for around $100 of our OBC.

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31 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

On P&O we haven't seen the wine prices as low as on the Proud Mary ($21, $22 and upwards). On our P&O cruises (the last one was not long before the COVID lockdown), the bottle price started at the low $30s - maybe $32 or $33. I always worked on getting three bottles of wine for around $100 of our OBC.

Always a huge mark up on wine on the cruise ships, over the top.

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2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Here's the full drinks list.

 

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I see they cater for Uncle Les, Strongbow cider @ $5.50, very reasonable. My golf club charges $6.50. I was in Dan Murphys this morning and bought a 24 bottle case of Strongbow Original for $47, that equates to $1.96 per bottle. So you see the mark up for pubs, clubs, ships, etc.

 

I note the Proud Mary label, wonder who makes that wine? 

Edited by NSWP
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4 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Always a huge mark up on wine on the cruise ships, over the top.

I don't object to the mark up on wine - well, not too much although we found the prices high on our Holland America cruises.

 

I feel that the initial fare on cruise ships is a 'steal' when you consider that you get the cruise, as much food as you want and also entertainment. Drinks fall into the category of discretionary spending. I have seen some very frequent cruisers go on a cruise and not spend one cent. That isn't for  me and probably not for you😁.

 

The cruise lines have to make their money somewhere. They have money invested in their drinks inventory, they have to store it on the ship, then serve it.

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8 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I don't object to the mark up on wine - well, not too much although we found the prices high on our Holland America cruises.

 

I feel that the initial fare on cruise ships is a 'steal' when you consider that you get the cruise, as much food as you want and also entertainment. Drinks fall into the category of discretionary spending. I have seen some very frequent cruisers go on a cruise and not spend one cent. That isn't for  me and probably not for you😁.

 

The cruise lines have to make their money somewhere. They have money invested in their drinks inventory, they have to store it on the ship, then serve it.

Initial Steal fare? Depends on how much per diem one is paying, my benchmark  for cabin, say outside, was $150pp twin share. I would not pay any more than that, in 23 cruises, on various lines, I cannot recollect paying in excess of $300 per double per day twin share.   If one has to pay $300 or $400 per diem for a person, then that is not a steal.

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1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

On the US ships you pay more, and then they add the gratuities 20% so when you convert to AUD it costs you $12 a beer

Big mark up when they pay about $1.50 a stubby or can.  In the crew bar a beer is $1.50, so you can see who the mugs are having to pay $12, the pax.🤐  I have said many times before, if they charged less for drinks they would sell more and pax would not go to extraordinary lengths to smuggle on booze.

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4 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Initial Steal fare? Depends on how much per diem one is paying, my benchmark  for cabin, say outside, was $150pp twin share. I would not pay any more than that, in 23 cruises, on various lines, I cannot recollect paying in excess of $300 per double per day twin share.   If one has to pay $300 or $400 per diem for a person, then that is not a steal.

I feel that the prices on our mainstream cruise lines (Princess, RCL etc) compare favourably with European river cruises, small ships in Australia (e.g. in the Kimberley or on the Murray), or with staying in a resort at (say) Hamilton Island.

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5 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Big mark up when they pay about $1.50 a stubby or can.  In the crew bar a beer is $1.50, so you can see who the mugs are having to pay $12, the pax.🤐  I have said many times before, if they charged less for drinks they would sell more and pax would not go to extraordinary lengths to smuggle on booze.

The $12 Mic mentioned for a beer sounds high. He says it is a US price, plus gratuity, converted to AUD. 

 

Is the auto gratuity 20% - I think it is 18% on Princess but I don't know what it is on other cruise lines. In the past when I have compared the drinks prices on US cruises with Aust they come out about the same (our prices are higher because they are calculated to include the gratuity). I don't know what figure Mic worked on originally to come up with $12 or whether he used an Aussie price, then added the gratuity. 

Edited by Aus Traveller
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2 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I feel that the prices on our mainstream cruise lines (Princess, RCL etc) compare favourably with European river cruises, small ships in Australia (e.g. in the Kimberley or on the Murray), or with staying in a resort at (say) Hamilton Island.

I respectfully disagree, per diem prices on European River cruises, i.e. $8000 for a 14 day river cruise equals $570 per diem. And the small ship expedition cruising up on the Kimberley etc is about the same. I don't know what the Proud Mary costs, for 5 days, I reckon about  $300 per day per person twin share, perhaps a tad more? 

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27 minutes ago, NSWP said:

 

 

I note the Proud Mary label, wonder who makes that wine? 

It's an Adelaide winery but they couldn't remember the name. We've tried the sparkling and the chardonnay. Both excellent. The sparkling is one of the nicest I've ever had in Australia. Light, crisp, and not too acidic.

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5 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

The $12 Mic mentioned for a beer sounds high. He says it is a US price, plus gratuity, converted to AUD. 

 

Is the auto gratuity 20% - I think it is 18% on Princess but I don't know what it is on other cruise lines. In the past when I have compared the drinks prices on US cruises with Aust they come out about the same (our prices are higher because they are calculated to include the gratuity). I don't know what figure Mic worked on originally to come up with $12 or whether he used an Aussie price, then added the gratuity. 

Our last cruise was on HAL - Noordam in May 2019. A beer/cider was $US6 plus gratuity. A mohito cocktail was $US9 plus gratuity.

Edited by NSWP
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Just now, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's an Adelaide winery but they couldn't remember the name. We've tried the sparkling and the chardonnay. Both excellent. The sparkling is one of the nicest I've ever had in Australia. Light, crisp, and not too acidic.

Good stuff, I thought the drinks list was very good with range, quality and pricing. Enjoy.

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3 minutes ago, NSWP said:

I respectfully disagree, per diem prices on European River cruises, i.e. $8000 for a 14 day river cruise equals $570 per diem. And the small ship expedition cruising up on the Kimberley etc is about the same. I don't know what the Proud Mary costs, for 5 days, I reckon about  $300 per day per person twin share, perhaps a tad more? 

We got the off season fare, so just over $270pp per day for a "balcony" cabin. Includes excursions and a limited amount of WiFi. The higher prices start in March.

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1 minute ago, NSWP said:

Our last cruise was on HAl - Noordam in May 2019. A beer/cider was $US6 plus gratuity. A mohito cocktail was $US9 plus gratuity.

It is a lot of years since we were on HAL cruises out of the US. One was a Caribbean cruise and the other a 49 night around South America. At that time drinks were so expensive that my husband and my MIL who was with us went 'dry'. I still had a glass of wine with dinner.

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6 minutes ago, NSWP said:

I respectfully disagree, per diem prices on European River cruises, i.e. $8000 for a 14 day river cruise equals $570 per diem. And the small ship expedition cruising up on the Kimberley etc is about the same. I don't know what the Proud Mary costs, for 5 days, I reckon about  $300 per day per person twin share, perhaps a tad more? 

A few examples of cruises we have booked - 7 nights P&O to the islands from Brisbane $151.28 pn pp for a balcony; 10 nights Princess to Tassie - $209 per night for a balcony although some people on the roll call got a balcony on the same cruise for much less than that.

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2 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

It is a lot of years since we were on HAL cruises out of the US. One was a Caribbean cruise and the other a 49 night around South America. At that time drinks were so expensive that my husband and my MIL who was with us went 'dry'. I still had a glass of wine with dinner.

Yes I thought HALS prices were, on a par with Cunard.

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12 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We got the off season fare, so just over $270pp per day for a "balcony" cabin. Includes excursions and a limited amount of WiFi. The higher prices start in March.

As a comparison the ocean cruises we currently have booked are $300-$330pp per day for a balcony cabin. That's base fare ie no drinks, WiFi or excursions.

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1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

The $12 Mic mentioned for a beer sounds high. He says it is a US price, plus gratuity, converted to AUD. 

 

Is the auto gratuity 20% - I think it is 18% on Princess but I don't know what it is on other cruise lines. In the past when I have compared the drinks prices on US cruises with Aust they come out about the same (our prices are higher because they are calculated to include the gratuity). I don't know what figure Mic worked on originally to come up with $12 or whether he used an Aussie price, then added the gratuity. 

$7.00 - $ 8.50 USD depending on the beer, add gratuity = $8.40 - $10.20,

Conversion to AUD pre covid = ($1.39/$0.72) = $11.70 - $14.20.

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1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

As a comparison the ocean cruises we currently have booked are $300-$330pp per day for a balcony cabin. That's base fare ie no drinks, WiFi or excursions.

That price is up there.  $300 per day is the per person twin share price for an inside on Coral Princess 2022 Worldie. Would be $600 for moi, solo.🤑

Edited by NSWP
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My Aranui cruise was just over 500 per day. But it did include drinks (and there was a lot of empty bottles at the end of dinners😂) and 97% of excursions. It certainly is cheaper than my other expedition cruises but when you go expedition cruise you are paying for specialist knowledge and specialist ships that are designed for that sailing area. 

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46 minutes ago, NSWP said:

That price is up there.  $300 per day is the per person twin share price for an inside on Coral Princess 2022 Worldie. Would be $600 for moi, solo.🤑

WC is always more expensive ☹️ and I don't think deals are ever offered. We have done a few segments of the WC in previous years and I notice that the on-board spending is much lower than on the normal length cruises. We would always have a glass or two of wine with dinner, but many of our table companions (different people most nights in anytime dining) would say that they weren't drinking because of the cost of the cruise. I am sure other on-board spending in the shops etc. would also be way down. Another point someone mentioned about the world cruise, is that most of the ports are not the usual ones Princess goes to so there is extra expense in scheduling a visit.

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