Cookies now cost $2 plus 20%

[ChucktownSteve]

6 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

They just topped cookiegate by eliminating gratuities from All In.

Let me guess. But they didn't lower the price the way they raised it to include grats and drinks in AI?  That's the worst shrinkflation I've heard of yet!

Edited August 28, 2023 by ChucktownSteve

[Cap_D]

 

5 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

They just topped cookiegate by eliminating gratuities from All In.

Like Transformers:  More than Meets the Eye. Cookiegate was deflection, this opens up the opportunity for many more cookiegates.  And, shows their old model doesn't work.  Seems desperate and destabilizing to crew that may be the only thing Celebrity had going for it. 

[Guera53]

1 hour ago, tigervixxxen said:

If they had made the warm cookies free at the gelato counter I bet they would have sold more scoops of gelato. That’s what true marketing big thinkers would have realized. 

I do have to say warm chocolate chip cookies are special. I lunch with ladies monthly and the venue places cookies on the table for dessert. I normally will take a leftover blonde, brownie, even lemon tart….last month they gave us freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Not one was left. 
 

  

[Wakepatrol]

Twenty two pages over cookies?

 

We got you

 

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, kasowell2 said:

They’re trying to create new revenue which I totally understand. The correct thing to do is create new revenue opportunities not by charging for previously included options. Charging for previously included items such as cookies, room service, extra lobster, etc is just being lazy. Create new experiences and charge for them. I’m not a carnival fan but they created a new roller coaster and charge for it. Stop watering down the experience and give the customer what he/she paid for and give them something extra they want to pay for. The specialty restaurant concept works so create new experiences that people are willing and glad to pay extra for. 

You make good points.    To at least try to be objective a bit, we need to constantly remind ourselves that they are part of a large for-profit corporation that had to take on literally $billions of debt to survive.  Now interest rates are skyrocketing, which is a big part of this debt picture.   A number of people here were worried about them going out of business and not cruising anymore.  These CC members could not wait to cruise again under any circumstances.  It is no surprise that the cruise industry is going for every revenue grab they can think of.  Some options are lazy (as you point out) and in fact the solution is to find untapped sources of new revenue.  Not charging for what was included before.  On top of that, as we all know (but tend to dismiss for cruise lines for whatever reason), inflation has hit all of us very hard worldwide.  Anything I try to buy from a 2-3 years ago has gone up 50-100% overall for many items. So cabin prices on ships had to rise as well.

[HMR74]

Here is another “Corporate” issue.

 

RCL is bring up Icon and Utopia.  Each costs over 2 billion. thats a lot of debt. 4 billion right there probably at 7-9% and thats using rate for good risk.

 

that is another 300 million in interest.

 

just an educated guess here, that it is RCL corporate, having expanded too fast, too extravagant,  needs to find pennies, and it turned to X and basically taking what it can out of X to meet the rcl obligation, as there is no other choice.

 

it is still a management problem, and another guess is LLP fought it, X subsidizing RCL ops, and they split ways, and installed a more corporate compliant CEO at X.

 

 

 

[terrydtx]

47 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

You make good points.    To at least try to be objective a bit, we need to constantly remind ourselves that they are part of a large for-profit corporation that had to take on literally $billions of debt to survive.  Now interest rates are skyrocketing, which is a big part of this debt picture.   A number of people here were worried about them going out of business and not cruising anymore.  These CC members could not wait to cruise again under any circumstances.  It is no surprise that the cruise industry is going for every revenue grab they can think of.  Some options are lazy (as you point out) and in fact the solution is to find untapped sources of new revenue.  Not charging for what was included before.  On top of that, as we all know (but tend to dismiss for cruise lines for whatever reason), inflation has hit all of us very hard worldwide.  Anything I try to buy from a 2-3 years ago has gone up 50-100% overall for many items. So cabin prices on ships had to rise as well.

Just look at airfares this year over last year. Last year we flew business class from San Antonio to Rome and home from Venice for $2386pp. In two weeks, we fly BC to Amsterdam and home from Athens, our cost $4410pp, almost double.

[TeeRick]

48 minutes ago, HMR74 said:

Here is another “Corporate” issue.

 

RCL is bring up Icon and Utopia.  Each costs over 2 billion. thats a lot of debt. 4 billion right there probably at 7-9% and thats using rate for good risk.

 

that is another 300 million in interest.

 

just an educated guess here, that it is RCL corporate, having expanded too fast, too extravagant,  needs to find pennies, and it turned to X and basically taking what it can out of X to meet the rcl obligation, as there is no other choice.

 

it is still a management problem, and another guess is LLP fought it, X subsidizing RCL ops, and they split ways, and installed a more corporate compliant CEO at X.

Maybe to some extent but RCG corporation subsidiaries like Celebrity contribute their own debt too.  All the E-Class ships recently built and launched, including the upcoming Ascent.  No need to look at RCCL new builds as separate.

[HMR74]

35 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Just look at airfares this year over last year. Last year we flew business class from San Antonio to Rome and home from Venice for $2386pp. In two weeks, we fly BC to Amsterdam and home from Athens, our cost $4410pp, almost double.

UGH, but we flew this year in premium economy rt 2600 each, into athens return from Rome. In Oct I want  to book a trip to Spain and Portugal for Oct 2024, but I think, hope,  we already took the higher price hit on the trip this spring. Prices look decent for Madrid Barcelona this oct, not so great for Lisbon.

 

 

 

 

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Maybe to some extent but RCG corporation subsidiaries like Celebrity contribute their own debt too.  All the E-Class ships recently built and launched, including the upcoming Ascent.  No need to look at RCCL new builds as separate.

Don't forget the yet unnamed 5th E Class ship due out in late 2025 or 26.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, HMR74 said:

UGH, but we flew this year in premium economy rt 2600 each, into athens return from Rome. In Oct I want  to book a trip to Spain and Portugal for Oct 2024, but I think, hope,  we already took the higher price hit on the trip this spring. Prices look decent for Madrid Barcelona this oct, not so great for Lisbon.

 

 

 

 

We booked our BC flights for next month back in November, today when I looked our same flights are over $7K per person.  We fly to Sydney in January and our PE seats are $4510 pp, BC was over $12kpp and more than our 2 cruises will cost so we had to pass.

[HMR74]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

Don't forget the yet unnamed 5th E Class ship due out in late 2025 or 26.

Yep, good catch,  but its Chump change, only 1.2 billion (just being sarcastic) . But I think they still have to make the final payment on Ascent. Has Asent been "delivered". I am not following that.

 

Boy that adds close to 7 billion in debt.

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, HMR74 said:

Yep, good catch,  but its Chump change, only 1.2 billion (just being sarcastic) . But I think they still have to make the final payment on Ascent. Has Asent been "delivered". I am not following that.

 

Boy that adds close to 7 billion in debt.

That adds up to a lot of nickel and dimes to be saved. The Ascent sails in December I believe.

Edited August 29, 2023 by terrydtx

[HMR74]

18 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We booked our BC flights for next month back in November, today when I looked our same flights are over $7K per person.  We fly to Sydney in January and our PE seats are $4510 pp, BC was over $12kpp and more than our 2 cruises will cost so we had to pass.

I will book based on flexible travel dates. this last trip we went 4 days earlier than we first planned and came back 3 days after we first planned and saved 30% and applied those savings to airbnb extended stays. As soon as I booked the airline  raised the prices to "the norm" of other days. So you have to look and hit it right. I wil also use miles to initially book the flights as if I change to another flight the miles are reinstated at no cost (even though they goosed up the miles  required to effectively pay a refundable price.  The dollars have become so big on airtravel that you need a strategy for that too, money is better in my pocket than anothers pocket.

Edited August 29, 2023 by HMR74

[HMR74]

23 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

That adds up to a lot of nickel and dimes to be saved. The Ascent sails in December I believe.

Ya know, this big capital spending is coming at a time when banks are raising  lending standards and cutting back on loans made, and rates are up.. If a recession is coming, then banks (or insurance compamies or pensions)  might be reacting adversly to the highly leveraged cruise industry. Used cruise ships are not all that marketable as collateral. Worse than driving a new car out of a dealer.

[C4HCG]

2 hours ago, TeeRick said:

You make good points.    To at least try to be objective a bit, we need to constantly remind ourselves that they are part of a large for-profit corporation that had to take on literally $billions of debt to survive.  Now interest rates are skyrocketing, which is a big part of this debt picture.   A number of people here were worried about them going out of business and not cruising anymore.  These CC members could not wait to cruise again under any circumstances.  It is no surprise that the cruise industry is going for every revenue grab they can think of.  Some options are lazy (as you point out) and in fact the solution is to find untapped sources of new revenue.  Not charging for what was included before.  On top of that, as we all know (but tend to dismiss for cruise lines for whatever reason), inflation has hit all of us very hard worldwide.  Anything I try to buy from a 2-3 years ago has gone up 50-100% overall for many items. So cabin prices on ships had to rise as well.

There’s a travel agent in the UK that has its own TV channel, we use them. Last 2 years they have been warning us prices for all lines would go up sharply, partly a ploy to get people to book early, but true as we’ve all seen.

[NMTraveller]

Here is a thread from the Royal board.  Sound familiar....

 

 

[cruisefam38]

The Five and Dime Cruise Line Corporation