Looking for "Value" in Cruising

[ldubs]

10 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

As I grow older, I find more and more value in paying a fair amount to get the experience I want with a minimum of stuff I DON'T want.  

 

Yes!  I have this rule to, if possible, avoid doing things I don't enjoy.  

[Mary229]

The thread perhaps assumes that we don’t know what we want.  I first draw a list of the things I value - itinerary, hours in port, cleanliness, safety, security and graciousness, ambiance then I start looking at price. DH often says it “costs what it costs, just buy what we want”

 

 I drink very little so I don’t want to pay for that, I live in a large city and frequently travel to other large cities and have access to fine dining and excellent entertainment venues and don’t really expect that quality on a cruise.   And finally I don’t want to be on a crowded, large noisy ship. It is not about the money spent. 
 

my ultimate question is where are you going and for how long?  
 

I agree about methods of booking but similarly what I value in an agent isn’t driven by the dollar, it is driven by the service and expertise

 

 

[ldubs]

8 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I must side with the people who say "value" is a word with multiple meanings.  Specific thoughts pertaining to this discussion: 

 

 

- Of course, this assumes that the rewards are beneficial to you.  If, for example, you don't drink alcohol, Royal Caribbean's four free Diamond drinks each day (worth potentially $40-60 to a drinker) mean nothing to you.  The OP mentions that he or she might spend $250-600/day on some lines for extras; we don't spend that much in a week.  The theme here, of course, is, Know Thyself.  

 

We don't drink much alcohol.  Luckily, that perk is not limited to alcoholic beverages.  We had a fridge full of diet sodas courtesy RCI's Diamond perk.  BTW, for some reason we each received 5 freebie drinks per day on our last RCI cruise.  

 

 

8 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

 

- We book with the cruise line.  Not because we have our head in the sand and don't see any other way but because we've tried multiple times with multiple cruises and multiple travel agents, and we just don't find any savings.  Perhaps this is because we always book low-priced cruises in the fall, which have little "fat to trim"?  Our cruises last year ranged from $99-384/person.  I know I've personally tried to save with travel agents and have decided it's not worth the effort -- at least not for the budget-priced cruises we choose.  

 

 

We used to feel exactly the way you describe -- until we found our current TA.  We book balcony or lower cabins and no packages.  I'm pretty sure we are not considered high rollers.  Still, we are able to save 10% - 15% (a few hundred bucks) with our TA.  

Edited September 11, 2023 by ldubs

[sparks1093]

To me $400 per person per day is a crazy amount of money. We could afford it, if we wanted to give up a lot of other things we do throughout the year or if we wanted to limit our cruises to one every several years. I do get the point that one should compare the all in price if possible (I booked a Celebrity cruise because what they included in the fare costs less than what we would pay on Carnival for a similar cruise), but sometimes that isn't possible (we typically book far in advance and at that time there are few cruise lines that have itineraries available). If we booked last minute cruises our strategy would be different.

 

As for travel agents, if one is booking really expensive vacations then yes, discounts are given that can make a difference but when one is booking less expensive vacations the discounts aren't as lucrative. I could certainly do the research to try to find a reputable TA that might offer me a discount of some sort, but that involves time, so that becomes a big trade off. 

 

I do agree that my expectations of an experience are going to vary depending on how much I am spending on the experience. The more that I spend the higher my expectations are going to be. And at the end of the day, we don't need a lot of frills to keep us happy. We cruise to spend time with our family and friends and the cruise is simply a backdrop to that. 

[Mary229]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I do agree that my expectations of an experience are going to vary depending on how much I am spending on the experience. The more that I spend the higher my expectations are going to be. And at the end of the day, we don't need a lot of frills to keep us happy.

This is us too.  It is hard for some to understand that some of us simply don’t need or even want the extras. 

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

To me $400 per person per day is a crazy amount of money. We could afford it, if we wanted to give up a lot of other things we do throughout the year or if we wanted to limit our cruises to one every several years.

I understand what you're saying and agree with your general principles.  I want to go in three directions with this:

 

1. All my regular cruises as a singleton have been considerably less than $400pppd (including the base fare and port fees but nothing else).  I struggle to find a scenario in which I would pay more than that, inflation adjusted.  I don't value the amenities of higher class accommodations that highly as of now (sorry George).  And there's no place that I really, really want to get to by cruise ship badly enough to pay that kind of price.
2. I also struggle to find a scenario in which I would pay a huge premium for a luxury line.  I've tried.  I read threads on here from those who sail those kinds of ships.  But again, it mostly seems that the price is justified by others for things I don't value very highly or at all.  Maybe things will be different in 1, 2, 5, 10, or 30 years.
3. I have paid at or above $400pppd for each of my beloved music charters (4 prior, 3 pending).  As I've mentioned in other posts, I think they're great because they add a whole lot of value to me in addition to the regular value I receive from regular cruises.  If I had to choose between giving up these, or giving up regular cruises, it seems obvious the choice I would make.  It actually seems to be the direction I'm going in, with the way things are going on the mainstream lines.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Honolulu Blue