Pricing for the Beyond is Beyond reason here

[deliver42]

Regardless of the price, they seem to be selling.

[Rockymaya]

Have to pay the Captain Kate Tax for the privilege of sailing with her.

[Whinenowine]

35 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

Regardless of the price, they seem to be selling.

Correct and that’s all that X cares about right now as they try to….ahem…..”right the ship”. I get that….as long as they don’t alienate heretofore loyal cruisers who feel priced out of the market. 

[Whinenowine]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

 

It's ridiculously high to everyone on this board. But if there are 14 people (assuming Rich is correct and there are 14 Sky Suites available) willing to pay that, whether we believe it's ridiculously high doesn't really matter, does it?

Exactly…Econ 101….supply and demand.  The market clearing price is ever-higher these days.  I’m just trying to wrap my head around why someone would pay more for this SS than I did for my PH on Millie. Or an Apex CS on next summer’s 12 day Baltic cruise. To each their own I suppose. 

[jelayne]

6 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

Exactly…Econ 101….supply and demand.  The market clearing price is ever-higher these days.  I’m just trying to wrap my head around why someone would pay more for this SS than I did for my PH on Millie. Or an Apex CS on next summer’s 12 day Baltic cruise. To each their own I suppose. 

Same reason some will pay $150k for a car,  because they want it and are willing to pay that price

[RichYak]

10 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Same reason some will pay $150k for a car,  because they want it and are willing to pay that price

True, but I'd spend that much on a luxury car, not a mass market Ford, no matter how many bells and whistles you add to it.

[sn2792]

We have an 11 night on Beyond booked for 4/1/24 in an S1 for $378 a night with $1830 in OBC. $730 of OBC is refundable. I don’t know what the suites are going for now.

[Oville]

8 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

yep, totally understand. Have you tried Oceania? Penthouse is between a SS and CS in size and you can book things a la carte. 

I have tried an Oceania Penthouse, 440sq ft including veranda.  One and done for us.

[dlh015]

1 hour ago, Oville said:

I have tried an Oceania Penthouse, 440sq ft including veranda.  One and done for us.

Please share why? I have been looking at various cruise lines just because...

 

Any info is appreciated...

[maggieq]

We were looking at the oct 26 cruise from Bayonne.  We are even considering an ocean view vs balcony but not at those prices.  

[Oville]

1 hour ago, dlh015 said:

Please share why? I have been looking at various cruise lines just because...

 

Any info is appreciated...

Just personal reasons.  The entertainment was outdated for us, didn’t like the PH cabin, thought the MDR was no better than Celebrity, not fans of the lunch time buffet (too much pushing and shoving) and finally the seating was uncomfortable at the entertainment venues.  On the other hand the speciality restaurants were very good, just hard to get reservations.

My recommendation for a smaller ship would be Viking Ocean if you don’t gamble.

[dlh015]

2 minutes ago, Oville said:

Just personal reasons.  The entertainment was outdated for us, didn’t like the PH cabin, thought the MDR was no better than Celebrity, not fans of the lunch time buffet (too much pushing and shoving) and finally the seating was uncomfortable at the entertainment venues.  On the other hand the speciality restaurants were very good, just hard to get reservations.

My recommendation for a smaller ship would be Viking Ocean if you don’t gamble.

Thanks! I appreciate your observations, personal or not...

[jelayne]

4 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

Correct and that’s all that X cares about right now as they try to….ahem…..”right the ship”. I get that….as long as they don’t alienate heretofore loyal cruisers who feel priced out of the market. 

I think their loyal cruisers know enough to book early.  If the prices go down we reprice, if they go up we’re happy we booked early.  

[Hlitner]

A few years ago we realized that it was often less expensive to book a luxury cruise line (Seabourn, Silverseas, Regent, etc) or a so-called Premium Line (Oceania, Viking, etc) than to book even a small suite on X.  That is one reason why we have not cruised on X for over 4 years (we are Elite Plus).  Consider that 2 of our last 3 Seabourn cruises were booked at about $400 per passenger/day.  And that is a truly all inclusive small ship luxury line where everything is included be it French Chanpagne, Caviar, or any of the alternate restaurants.  

 

We understand that some folks are very "loyal" to a specific cruise line but we are loyal to ourself and seek out value (not cheap).

 

Hank

[Oville]

36 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

A few years ago we realized that it was often less expensive to book a luxury cruise line (Seabourn, Silverseas, Regent, etc) or a so-called Premium Line (Oceania, Viking, etc) than to book even a small suite on X.  That is one reason why we have not cruised on X for over 4 years (we are Elite Plus).  Consider that 2 of our last 3 Seabourn cruises were booked at about $400 per passenger/day.  And that is a truly all inclusive small ship luxury line where everything is included be it French Chanpagne, Caviar, or any of the alternate restaurants.  

 

We understand that some folks are very "loyal" to a specific cruise line but we are loyal to ourself and seek out value (not cheap).

 

Hank

Seabourn cruised through Covid when other cruise lines shut down?

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Oville said:

Seabourn cruised through Covid when other cruise lines shut down?

No but they resumed cruising in June 2021 in Greece (we were there).  In fact, the Apex was docked next to us in Pireaus.

  

Hank

[wineoclock]

3 hours ago, Oville said:

Just personal reasons.  The entertainment was outdated for us, didn’t like the PH cabin, thought the MDR was no better than Celebrity, not fans of the lunch time buffet (too much pushing and shoving) and finally the seating was uncomfortable at the entertainment venues.  On the other hand the speciality restaurants were very good, just hard to get reservations.

My recommendation for a smaller ship would be Viking Ocean if you don’t gamble.

Thank you I’ve looked at Viking world cruises as well as we are thinking of one in the near future. Gary spends his evenings in the casino on board while I tend to go back to our room or find a quiet place to read. On Viking we may have to talk to each other 😂

[nekzaadvakil]

Never thought that I'd move away from Royal Caribbean/ Celebrity till I saw these prices. We finally looked at Princess and took the plunge. We loved it. We sailed on Regal Princess and had a fabulous time. Celebrity may be getting good prices now, but I wonder if they care about loyalists like me now looking elsewhere (if health permits, we're worth 20-25 years of cruising in balcony cabins). 

[Whinenowine]

4 hours ago, nekzaadvakil said:

Never thought that I'd move away from Royal Caribbean/ Celebrity till I saw these prices. We finally looked at Princess and took the plunge. We loved it. We sailed on Regal Princess and had a fabulous time. Celebrity may be getting good prices now, but I wonder if they care about loyalists like me now looking elsewhere (if health permits, we're worth 20-25 years of cruising in balcony cabins). 

Yeah, this was one of my points.  X veterans do know how to operate within the systems and lock in the best pricing, as @jelayne noted above.  But the price creep we've seen in all facets of our lives over the last 2 years seems to me to have hit X's suites more than those of the luxury and uber luxury brands.

[mac_tlc]

12 hours ago, sn2792 said:

We have an 11 night on Beyond booked for 4/1/24 in an S1 for $378 a night with $1830 in OBC. $730 of OBC is refundable. I don’t know what the suites are going for now.

SS on that sailing is going for about $520pppd with $950 OBC .

 

mac_tlc

[mac_tlc]

26 minutes ago, Whinenowine said:

Yeah, this was one of my points.  X veterans do know how to operate within the systems and lock in the best pricing, as @jelayne noted above.  But the price creep we've seen in all facets of our lives over the last 2 years seems to me to have hit X's suites more than those of the luxury and uber luxury brands.

 I Think that Royal’s suite prices are even more ridiculous, at least on newer ships, especially given that the Sky Class ones don’t include drinks or gratuities.

 

In my prior post I listed the price of a SS on Beyond for 4/1/24 at $520pppd. The Wonder of the Seas on 4/7/24, for a Grand Suite is $648pppd, with no drink package, no gratuities and no OBC.

 

The market will decide what the prices should be, as it always does. 

 

mac_tlc

Edited September 2, 2022 by mac_tlc

[leo72976]

On 8/31/2022 at 2:02 PM, Orator said:

Suites seem to sell out at even the elevated prices. Celebrity would be crazy given the current environment to get less than the market dictates., I would not book at the prices, but others would.

As long as people keep paying it, the price will stay inflated.

[verizon]

13 hours ago, Whinenowine said:

Exactly…Econ 101….supply and demand.  The market clearing price is ever-higher these days.  I’m just trying to wrap my head around why someone would pay more for this SS than I did for my PH on Millie. Or an Apex CS on next summer’s 12 day Baltic cruise. To each their own I suppose. 

I have dropped Solstice class for Edge class.

Who ever design the suite cabins and other common public venues is a genius.

I remember the ship company did sent a group of experts to the ship and did a survey with the crews about the functionality of the work places of Apex what they can make the Edge class future ship better.

I will enjoy the Sunset bar very much with the new design.

[Croooser]

11 hours ago, dlh015 said:

Please share why? I have been looking at various cruise lines just because...

 

Any info is appreciated...

If you do a search on the Oceania board, there are quite a few threads comparing Celebrity to Oceania. You can get a pretty good idea of how they differ.

 

Don't want to derail this thread by elaborating.

[asnaleah]

13 hours ago, Oville said:

I have tried an Oceania Penthouse, 440sq ft including veranda.  One and done for us.

Please share your thoughts with us. I have been looking at Oceania too. Thanks!