Hey Carnival! If you are going to hike up the price of cruises, why don't you....

[ray98]

19 minutes ago, Moparfiend said:

8 day from Baltimore (Sept '23)
priced at more then 8,000 dollars for a suite
$2,900 for an interior
$4,800 for a balcony 

This is on an older ship (Legend), 2 people

Carnival will price themselves out of the market if they continue this path

If they are sailing full as they appear to be then they are in their market.  The market is what people will pay for something.

[kdr69]

15 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

Because cruise lines continue to have "optional" gratuities unlike other businesses.

Pretty sure my gratuity is still optional at every place i go to eat or get my haircut

[jimbo5544]

Much ado about nothing.  Tipping threads and the suggestions on who gets it, when if are closely related to area 51 and building 7 conspiracies IMHO.

[jimbo5544]

10 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

Pretty sure my gratuity is still optional at every place i go to eat or get my haircut

Bingo

[Stick93]

35 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

Much ado about nothing.  Tipping threads and the suggestions on who gets it, when if are closely related to area 51 and building 7 conspiracies IMHO.

Are you saying they have solved the landing on the moon conspiracy or gratuities have not reached that level yet?

[jimbo5544]

6 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

Are you saying they have solved the landing on the moon conspiracy or gratuities have not reached that level yet?

😆

 

[Jgarriso]

just want to add my 2 cents....    And i guess this is in Carnivals Favor.  Go to Orbitzs or somewhere and do a search for balcony cabins and compare prices.  Then  when you see that for more money the other lines give you obstructed balconies,  oh you wanted a standard balcany with a view,  that will be another grand (exaggeration)          I'm glad for my part that carnival keeps it simple.    

 

On the negative,  i've been real unhappy with the restaurant decline since covid.    Brunch and Dinner have removed so much.  Actually have nights now that we prefer to eat at the buffet because the dinner just isn't worth the time.

[ProgRockCruiser]

1 hour ago, Moparfiend said:

8 day from Baltimore (Sept '23)
priced at more then 8,000 dollars for a suite
$2,900 for an interior
$4,800 for a balcony 

This is on an older ship (Legend), 2 people

Carnival will price themselves out of the market if they continue this path

You are looking to book one month out and are surprised the prices are sky-high?  They know they have a captured market for last-minute panic cruisers who "just have to get away".  Try booking an airline ticket 3 days prior to your flight. There are no last-minute bargains any more.

 

btw, it looks like your suites got sold out between your post and now, assuming you were looking at the cruise to Canada.

 

Hmm, let's look at pricing out a similar cruise one year later, a 7-day to Bermuda:

 

$739 pp interior, or $1478

$929 pp balcony, or $1858

$1659 pp suite, or $3318

 

And I bet if you had booked when first released, it would have been even cheaper.

[Saint Greg]

They're all high right now. As of now I'm not cruising this fall.

[aborgman]

2 hours ago, staceyglow said:

Why would you think that? Carnival has explicitly said that all gratuities go directly to crew members. If that isn't the case, that would be fraud. 

 

It obviously isn't the case - because you pay the gratuities to Carnival, then Carnival distributes them to crew members.

 

If gratuities went directly to crew members - Carnival would never touch the money, just you and the crew member.

[staceyglow]

4 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

It obviously isn't the case - because you pay the gratuities to Carnival, then Carnival distributes them to crew members.

 

If gratuities went directly to crew members - Carnival would never touch the money, just you and the crew member.

Just because Carnival is handling the money doesn't mean they are stealing it.

 

[aborgman]

5 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Just because Carnival is handling the money doesn't mean they are stealing it.

 

 

Correct.

Carnival handling the money means it doesn't go directly to crew members.

 

If there is any middleman - even if they take zero - it isn't "direct" by definition.

 

[staceyglow]

4 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Correct.

Carnival handling the money means it doesn't go directly to crew members.

 

If there is any middleman - even if they take zero - it isn't "direct" by definition.

 

You know what I meant, but if you want to be pedantic, go for it.  🙂

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

They're all high right now. As of now I'm not cruising this fall.

I think you will see it slow down this fall

[4hunters]

1 hour ago, Saint Greg said:

They're all high right now. As of now I'm not cruising this fall.

What!?  Does that mean your upcoming live report from a different cruise line isn't happening?  I only have a vague recollection of your upcoming plans from your last trip report, so forgive me if I'm mistaken.

[Saint Greg]

1 minute ago, 4hunters said:

What!?  Does that mean your upcoming live report from a different cruise line isn't happening?  I only have a vague recollection of your upcoming plans from your last trip report, so forgive me if I'm mistaken.

 

I'm still going on NCL in August. I said fall. But I may retract that. It looks like I may have found something with Princess in November that looks like it will work for me.

[4hunters]

Just now, Saint Greg said:

 

I'm still going on NCL in August. I said fall. But I may retract that. It looks like I may have found something with Princess in November that looks like it will work for me.

And I said to forgive me if I'm mistaken.  🤣

[Saint Greg]

38 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

I think you will see it slow down this fall

 

As of right now you've got what I call summer prices going through December. The good prices are in Alaska, Canada, Australia, Europe. I think those were mostly NCL. NCL has some nice prices on TA cruises this fall. For Carnival I did see some nice prices on the 10 day Venezia cruises out of NYC but I don't have that much time.

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by Saint Greg

[jimbo5544]

15 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

As of right now you've got what I call summer prices going through December. The good prices are in Alaska, Canada, Australia, Europe. I think those were mostly NCL. NCL has some nice prices on TA cruises this fall. For Carnival I did see some nice prices on the 10 day Venezia cruises out of NYC but I don't have that much time.

 

Understand

[dallasdan]

24 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

As of right now you've got what I call summer prices going through December. The good prices are in Alaska, Canada, Australia, Europe. I think those were mostly NCL. NCL has some nice prices on TA cruises this fall. For Carnival I did see some nice prices on the 10 day Venezia cruises out of NYC but I don't have that much time.

 

Do you cruise in the fall during Saints bye week?

[Saint Greg]

24 minutes ago, dallasdan said:

Do you cruise in the fall during Saints bye week?

 

That's how I try to do it. I have cruised a couple of times when they had MNF road games knowing they'd be on TV. I blindly booked Jubilee for this fall but since it was canceled I waited until the schedule came out to even look at replacement cruises. It looks like the best I'm going to be able to do this year is go out of Galveston on a day that we are on the road. Stream that game on the ship if it isn't on TV. Then debarkation is on our bye week. I need to be back for Thanksgiving which is that Thursday after our bye.
 

 

 

Edited August 4, 2023 by Saint Greg

[bafinegan]

8 hours ago, Moparfiend said:

8 day from Baltimore (Sept '23)
priced at more then 8,000 dollars for a suite
$2,900 for an interior
$4,800 for a balcony 

This is on an older ship (Legend), 2 people

Carnival will price themselves out of the market if they continue this path

I booked an 8 day out of Tampa, $3200 for an ocean suite.  This is for 2 people doing a partial Panama Canal transit over Christmas 2024.  It's all about timing- when one books, where one sails to, where one sails out of, the time of the year ( summer is usually higher).  Overall, prices are higher, but deals are out there. 

[BlerkOne]

11 hours ago, Stick93 said:

Carnival says a lot of things and letting people remove gratuities seems to suggest that they are not serious about constant wages. Raising the tip means more people remove - it’s reverse supply and demand. 

How is that any different from Royal or others? What proof do you have that more people remove? Cruise lines certainly don't release that information.

[simplelife]

On 8/3/2023 at 6:06 PM, ChinaShrek said:

Many, many people have no idea that they will be charged gratuities until they are on the ship. I have heard numerous people at customer service asking what the charges are for. Including gratuities would eliminate the confusion and long lines at customer service.

Either they can't read or they are lying so they won't look as bad when they remove gratuities

[jimbo5544]

19 hours ago, aborgman said:

 

Correct.

Carnival handling the money means it doesn't go directly to crew members.

 

If there is any middleman - even if they take zero - it isn't "direct" by definition.

 

Wow, you have found the secret…. Wait, it has only put on here 2000 times.  This has been rehashed just as many times.  There is absolutely no proof of anything other than what Carnival tells us….it goes to the people they say it does.  

Edited August 5, 2023 by jimbo5544