I dont consider myself cheap

[Sailing12Away]

On 1/13/2024 at 1:08 PM, olemissreb said:

For me, I like to plan things out, so I usually book 18mos to 2 years in advance and then I slowly pay it off before final payment.  Makes me feel like it's cheaper than it really is!

Same with me. When I find an itinerary at a price point I'm comfortable with we book it. Call it a hobby I suppose, but I enjoy pricing out trips to see that we still have the best deal. When the price drops or a better promotion comes out, I can simply call them up and switch over (before final payment). If the price rises, I know I locked in at the lower rate and get to proclaim "look how much I saved us by booking early". 9 times out of 10 the price climbs egregiously higher than what I booked, then after final payment if there are still comparable cabins left it will plummet. In our case if we book a Haven room, there's usually none left by that point so nothing to compare to and get a price adjustment on.

 

On 1/13/2024 at 2:05 PM, expectthebest said:

We (family of 4) returned from Disney World the week before thanksgiving.. the prices have absolutely skyrocketed there.. but demand is still at an all time high.. Even though it rained for 7 straight days in the parks each park still had 80k visitors each soaking wet day.. Disney has manipulated the attendance policy this creating no “slow season”

 

#bringbackthehash

#hashbrownsforbreakfast

Our next trip is February this month leaving out of Orlando. We looked into going down there 2-3 days early as we've never been to Universal before. Both Universal and Disney were charging over $100/day for park tickets. So either we're out of touch with the new reality, or since our last visit to Disney was for 5+ days we didn't notice the pinch of the tickets. Only if you commit to 5 or more days does the park ticket price per day become 'reasonable'. For us to get a basic hotel not even walking distance to Universal and only 2 days of park tickets it would have been over 1K. 

 

So yeah.... opted for a basic hotel walking distance to Disney Springs area and will go down there one day early instead of 3, and just catch a Cirque show and dinner with friends.  So yeah, not just cruising prices.

 

#bringbackthehash

 

[Sailing12Away]

On 1/13/2024 at 8:09 PM, david_sobe said:

I know its crazy.  There is so much buzz about the ship and all of its wow factors. Its sold out which makes the prices go crazy.

We looked into booking Icon after seeing some articles about the resident dog on board. For S&G looked into what it would cost for a fancy Star suite so we could tell the magic genie to just make it a daily occurrence that the dog come visit us and hang out in our suite for a bit. The fanciest suite available for a short 5 day cruise was over 40K per person. So 80K for a 5 day cruise.

 

Ok, despite being Haven veterans, RCC Star suite is still out of our price range.... looked into a simple regular balcony. For a 5 day cruise in a basic balcony was still over 8K. For a balcony. 

 

I honestly got anxiety looking at the deck plan with so many cabins and so many twists and turns to the interior of the ship. So no, those mega ships are not for me at all and even if the price wasn't stupid I'm not sure you could ever convince me to go on them. Unless there was a guaranteed set time each day that I could pet the dog to relieve some of that anxiety. 

[Sailing12Away]

Ok, hive mind of like minded folks who feel prices have gotten crazy in everything - not just cruises. Serious question here.... if you were to order pancakes from your local diner (or pancake place or whoever makes the best pancakes near you) - what are you currently paying for your pancakes?

 

Each weekend when I'm feeling lazy and want to order magic delivery fairy to bring me pancakes, they're charging over $15 for a stack of regular pancakes. If we were to use grubhub or a similar service, forget it... with the extra charges and such in there they would cost over $20. For pancakes. 

 

That was honestly the shocker for me.... my box of bisquick is $6 and will make 100 pancakes. So not sure if we just need to find a better diner, stop being lazy and pick it up ourselves, or if that's the new norm for pancakes. Inquiring minds want to know.

 

But back to cruising... yeah, flights are out of hand too. Next trip is leaving from Orlando. In days past we could easily get a flight from JFK down to Florida for ~$150/pp. The flights for next month were starting at $300+/pp, and that was for Spirit or Frontier (which we would never use). Yeah... Jetblue had flights for $250, but by the time you say you actually want a seat, and have a suitcase, and yadayadayada that flight was over $350/pp. For this trip we ended up using some old Delta Amex miles I had for the flight down, and my Capital One points for the JetBlue flight back home. 

For comparison.... we're flying to the Galapagos in October. I can book a flight to Quito for less money than it would cost me to fly to Orlando. To me that is just insane. 

[david_sobe]

40 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

We looked into booking Icon after seeing some articles about the resident dog on board. For S&G looked into what it would cost for a fancy Star suite so we could tell the magic genie to just make it a daily occurrence that the dog come visit us and hang out in our suite for a bit. The fanciest suite available for a short 5 day cruise was over 40K per person. So 80K for a 5 day cruise.

 

Ok, despite being Haven veterans, RCC Star suite is still out of our price range.... looked into a simple regular balcony. For a 5 day cruise in a basic balcony was still over 8K. For a balcony. 

 

I honestly got anxiety looking at the deck plan with so many cabins and so many twists and turns to the interior of the ship. So no, those mega ships are not for me at all and even if the price wasn't stupid I'm not sure you could ever convince me to go on them. Unless there was a guaranteed set time each day that I could pet the dog to relieve some of that anxiety. 

I just booked a 2 story Aqua suite with NCL.  A suite similar on RCCL on an older ship like Allure was more expensive.  The Coastal Kitchen is not as nice and the suite sun deck is nowhere nice as the Prima class.  Also the RCCL suite was only 2 bedroom.  The Aqua suite is 3 bedroom. 

[cruiseny4life]

21 minutes ago, Sailing12Away said:

Each weekend when I'm feeling lazy and want to order magic delivery fairy to bring me pancakes, they're charging over $15 for a stack of regular pancakes. If we were to use grubhub or a similar service, forget it... with the extra charges and such in there they would cost over $20. For pancakes. 

Tell me you live downstate without telling me you live downstate. Haha! 

 

Just checked the price of pancakes at the diner we almost purchased in town (then we saw the balance sheet): $9.70 for two pancakes, two sausages, and that includes REAL maple syrup. No Grub Hub or Door Dash, because we live in the middle of nowhere...just like we like it. 

In the big city of Utica, it's $6.99 for a tall stack (that's three at this joint) at one of the local, more popular places. I bet you're right that with Door Dash it would be around $20....now I could go to crappy ole chain IHOP and get a tall stack for $8.59. But that's just ewwww! 

 

Personally, I just throw some flour, salt, baking powder, milk, egg, melted butter, cinnamon, vanilla, and sugar in a bowl, mix, and griddle em up! No clue what that costs, but I don't have to leave my house or pay much. Plus, my pups each get to enjoy a pancake as the mixture makes enough for us, plus four pancakes. One per dog. Perfect! 

 

To be back on topic - up until about two to three months ago, I was one that said you could find a really great value cruise. It does seem a value Haven cruise needs to hover around $400/per person/per day (all in), rather than my old standard of $300. We have two Cruise Next's, plus a 10% coupon in our account that are burning a hole. I have no idea when we'll use them. But, I can guarantee it'll be on a cruise we feel we are getting a great value out of. That basically means we'll be looking for a weeklong cruise at around $5,600. I am almost positive that we'll be in a HE, HJ, or HI category room for that price, but that's fine with us. There's just two of us and while I do LOVE my aft balcony, I'll settle for a midship room. 

[detroitlions]

On 1/13/2024 at 4:46 PM, schmoopie17 said:

Imagine how expensive they would be if they were giant, instead.

I don't understand why they have to make that much profit on shrimp. Shrimp for the most part are cheap in Florida.

[detroitlions]

On 1/13/2024 at 8:14 PM, Rob_H said:

We mostly go on long cruises, and b2b (and b2b2b and beyond).  So for us the key metric is total cost per cabin per night.  Lower cost means more cruises.

 

During 2018 and 2019, our budget was a total cost (including port fees and service charges) of US$200 per cabin per night ($100 per person), inside.  Sometimes the service charges or a special cruise that worked just right would push it a little over, but most of the time we could keep to that.

 

In 2022 and 2023 we've had 25 cruises on Norwegian.  A few have been within our pre-Covid budget, but most have not.  We've had to increase our budget to $300 total price per cabin per night ($150 per person).  With this budget we've been able to get some fantastic cruises to exotic places, so it's still well worth it and a great deal.  But, yes, the prices are now higher.

 

The price of shore excursions on NCL is another issue, we've been fully priced out of that market, just not worth it.  And honestly we've had much more fun doing things more independently, so don't miss them.

 

 

We stopped doing the excursions a few years ago the prices are totally bad for what you get. In fact the last 4 cruises we would always have a stop or 2 we did not get off the ship. A lot of the stuff they advertise I would never do any way like swim with Dolphins and Sting rays. I see them all the time at home and I consider this cruel to dolphins. 

[RocketMan275]

8 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I just booked a 2 story Aqua suite with NCL.  A suite similar on RCCL on an older ship like Allure was more expensive.  The Coastal Kitchen is not as nice and the suite sun deck is nowhere nice as the Prima class.  Also the RCCL suite was only 2 bedroom.  The Aqua suite is 3 bedroom. 

We've been on Oasis and on Breakaway.  Strongly agree, Coastal Kitchens isn't even in the same league as the Haven restaurant.

[Sailing12Away]

10 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

Tell me you live downstate without telling me you live downstate. Haha! 

 

Border of Nassau & Queens. I think the delivery service apps are more regulated in the city though. We were at a brewery earlier in LIC and ordered some Mad for Chicken delivery to soak up the beer. Less than $10 in taxes, fees & tip... whereas my pancakes from less than a mile away were nearly double that. For pancakes. 

 

Korean fried chicken all day every day I guess.

 

We have a fairly expensive non-NCL trip coming up in October, and another non-NCL one planned for Mardi Gras 2025. Not that we're moving away from NCL per se, but we follow the itineraries that hit places we want to be and NCL seems to be missing the mark for our desired market area. Or at least our market area and budget. 

 

Keeping my fingers crossed that NCL offers up a decent Japan itinerary with an Okinawa stop in 2026 that won't cost an arm & leg. Found a great trip that hits China, Taiwan, South Korea & Okinawa, but it's for March of this year so not doable. I just can't bring myself to pay Haven prices on a smaller ship that doesn't even have a Haven at all.

[RedwingHockeyFan]

I regularly do some price checking on cruises I want to take in the future, and right now there is a premium on the Prima and Viva for similar itineraries.  I really want to try one of the Southern Caribbean itineraries, but they are all on the Viva and cost near double what a different Caribbean itinerary is on one of the Away/Away+ class ships. 

[complawyer]

hey redwing!. there is imo a very comprehensive 14 day cruise from/to miami jan 3re-jan 17 2025.

you may wish to check it out.  I would love it, and book in a heartbeat, but my wife doesnt want to go to the Carribbean

 

while i am aware that price is all in someone's perspective, i think for a 14 day cruise the prices are reasonable. BTW it's on the NCL Pearl

 

as an anecdote since you are a redwings fan: having grown up in Detroit, many, many years ago, i was working at an exclusive men's clothing store, when i waited on a customer who spent a lot of money. After the transaction was competed, a few of my co-workers came rushing over and asked if i knew who i had just helped.

 

I had no clue, but they told me it was none other than Gordie Howe!  Not being a hockey fan in the slightest, i just schrugged  my shoulders and went HUH!

 

i was however a rabid Tigers fan throughout the 60's

 

depending on your age, i thought you might get a chuckle out of this story

[RedwingHockeyFan]

8 minutes ago, complawyer said:

hey redwing!. there is imo a very comprehensive 14 day cruise from/to miami jan 3re-jan 17 2025.

you may wish to check it out.  I would love it, and book in a heartbeat, but my wife doesnt want to go to the Carribbean

 

while i am aware that price is all in someone's perspective, i think for a 14 day cruise the prices are reasonable. BTW it's on the NCL Pearl

 

as an anecdote since you are a redwings fan: having grown up in Detroit, many, many years ago, i was working at an exclusive men's clothing store, when i waited on a customer who spent a lot of money. After the transaction was competed, a few of my co-workers came rushing over and asked if i knew who i had just helped.

 

I had no clue, but they told me it was none other than Gordie Howe!  Not being a hockey fan in the slightest, i just schrugged  my shoulders and went HUH!

 

i was however a rabid Tigers fan throughout the 60's

 

depending on your age, i thought you might get a chuckle out of this story

Wow, that would certainly be a memorable moment for any Redwing Hockey Fan :D.  I once was on a flight from Detroit to Minneapolis/St. Paul for my brother's hockey tournament in San Diego and as a treat for all the young hockey players, Gordie Howe was on that flight!  I also had a real nice treat to meet Steve Yzerman in DTW on my way to travel somewhere for work.  I told myself that I would always regret not going up to him and at least shaking his hand since he was my favorite player growing up.  So I did.

Edited January 16 by RedwingHockeyFan

[complawyer]

on the other hand, were you able to check out the cruise i suggested?

what was more of  thrill as a teen in the 60"s was meeting Al Kaline and Norm Cash at a sponsored event in Oak Park

[RedwingHockeyFan]

1 minute ago, complawyer said:

on the other hand, were you able to check out the cruise i suggested?

what was more of  thrill as a teen in the 60"s was meeting Al Kaline and Norm Cash at a sponsored event in Oak Park

I will, but I'm not in the market for a 14 days cruise right now.

[kirtihk]

On 1/13/2024 at 12:51 PM, TrumpyNor said:

It has definitely been a significant change (raise) in prices for cruising after the covid-19 pandemic. We used to book balcony cabins, or at least OW cabins, and now only can afford inside cabins - and even they have a hefty price tag. 

 

Btw; it is not only NCL  but all cruise lines. At least 4 that has been my impression. 

it's not only all cruise lines but all other business.  A rhetorical question: who might guess (imagine) that in March 2020?  I, actually, predicted it (among dozens of other nowadays "new world" items) during our the Ponant Le Soleal March 8-25 cruise.

[reveur15]

On 1/13/2024 at 12:54 PM, debenson0723 said:

I think it depends on how you want to cruise. You always mention you cruise in the Haven or a suite and that's great. But that is never going to be an option for me, especially as a solo traveler on a budget. I personally would rather cruise more often in a smaller cabin. It's great that sometimes there are upgrades available and I can take advantage of them but if I can't, I am happy on the waterfront or Observation Lounge. Booking last minute also helps to take advantage of lower prices (again, I really don't care that much about my cabin). We all have different cruise styles and cruising is still in my budget but sometimes it takes a little more time and effort to make it work. 

I also noticed that since january there is no more actual solo discount (no single supplement). Now the best you can get is a small discount  in a 'solo' cabin that is almost the same price as for double occupancy.

 

[Travelling2Some]

2 hours ago, kirtihk said:

it's not only all cruise lines but all other business.  A rhetorical question: who might guess (imagine) that in March 2020?  I, actually, predicted it (among dozens of other nowadays "new world" items) during our the Ponant Le Soleal March 8-25 cruise.

I actually did expect it.  I remember telling our kids a few years ago that if you want any big ticket items go buy them now because inflation is about to rise substantially.  You can't just keep spending and printing money to cover it.  The handwriting was all over that wall.  I also booked our travel as far out as I could (with refundable deposits) to lock in the prices.

[kirtihk]

46 minutes ago, Travelling2Some said:

I actually did expect it.  I remember telling our kids a few years ago that if you want any big ticket items go buy them now because inflation is about to rise substantially.  You can't just keep spending and printing money to cover it.  The handwriting was all over that wall.  I also booked our travel as far out as I could (with refundable deposits) to lock in the prices.

Exactly!  And yet, so many people wonder why it’s happening now?  We also already booked a few cruise including 3 segments of the 2026 Silversea World cruise.  Yesterday I even poked to some Fall 2026 cruises (not much is available yet to select from).

Edited January 19 by kirtihk

[spanishguy1970]

On 1/13/2024 at 11:55 AM, complawyer said:

my wife and i love to cruise and we take at least 2 a year.  is it just me, or has anyone else notice that most of the prices on ncl cruises are now almost sky high?

 

when the prima 1st sailed, after reviewing the prices, i thought i was priced out of the market (now i know for sure). i shudder to think what the aqua will cost

 

Lately it seems most cruises are high. ncl isnt fooling anyone with their alleged sales.

 

 

i agree completely.

[Anoynmous Phoenix]

ncl isnt fooling anyone with their alleged sales.

 

 

NCL has NEVER had a "SALE"!!!   They just change the wording to appear that they are.

 

There is a logical reason for this!!   If there is a price drop BEFORE final payment you can get a re-fare/cancel & rebook.   (The cynic in me says they will soon alter that.)   BUT after final payment you now can only get something if the T&Cs are EXACTLY the same as they were when you booked.   That is why they change them every few weeks!!!   (What me a cynic; NO!!!!!!!)

[Sailing12Away]

Other thing with NCL - if you don't like the answer, call back in 5 mins and talk to someone else. We have a trip coming up next month and wanted to add 2 more guests to our cabin (listed as fitting 6 guests, we only have 2). First person I talked to said no, we couldn't add anyone else due to fire code blah blah blah.

 

Called back and talked to someone else - no problem, got the extra 2 guests added to our cabin. Call 2 when they said we could add them they gave me one price, but it was higher than expected so needed to confirm with the new guests that was ok. When I called back for the 3rd time to move forward with it, price had already changed and gone up. They told me "it changes by the minute". I literally LOL'ed to them and just did it anyway. 

But yeah... 3 different calls, 3 different answers and prices. 

[smillerholmes]

On 1/15/2024 at 9:16 AM, Sailing12Away said:

Ok, hive mind of like minded folks who feel prices have gotten crazy in everything - not just cruises. Serious question here.... if you were to order pancakes from your local diner (or pancake place or whoever makes the best pancakes near you) - what are you currently paying for your pancakes?

 

Each weekend when I'm feeling lazy and want to order magic delivery fairy to bring me pancakes, they're charging over $15 for a stack of regular pancakes. If we were to use grubhub or a similar service, forget it... with the extra charges and such in there they would cost over $20. For pancakes. 

 

That was honestly the shocker for me.... my box of bisquick is $6 and will make 100 pancakes. So not sure if we just need to find a better diner, stop being lazy and pick it up ourselves, or if that's the new norm for pancakes. Inquiring minds want to know.

I loooove pancakes - they are like a drug for me personally.  Last weekend - got the craving, had to have them.  Cracker Barrel was my dealer of choice - 3 with the perfectly crispy edges that I love so much.  $8.99

I am so happy I was able to restrain myself and not order 1 to go.  😁

[Travelling2Some]

Got to say that I am surprised by the discussion of pancakes.  Assuming homemade, they would be about the cheapest of all foods.  My dad grew up in the depression and he would not eat a pancake because that was all they could afford when he was a kid.  Long story but we were in an impoverished country once and we had one egg and wanted to stretch it to feed several people.  The solution was to make pancakes.  I do like pancakes a lot but would never pay restaurant prices for them since they are so simple and I make much better ones at home. 

[CptBoatface]

On 1/15/2024 at 5:58 AM, Sailing12Away said:

Same with me. When I find an itinerary at a price point I'm comfortable with we book it. Call it a hobby I suppose, but I enjoy pricing out trips to see that we still have the best deal. When the price drops or a better promotion comes out, I can simply call them up and switch over (before final payment). If the price rises, I know I locked in at the lower rate and get to proclaim "look how much I saved us by booking early". 9 times out of 10 the price climbs egregiously higher than what I booked, then after final payment if there are still comparable cabins left it will plummet. In our case if we book a Haven room, there's usually none left by that point so nothing to compare to and get a price adjustment on.

 

Our next trip is February this month leaving out of Orlando. We looked into going down there 2-3 days early as we've never been to Universal before. Both Universal and Disney were charging over $100/day for park tickets. So either we're out of touch with the new reality, or since our last visit to Disney was for 5+ days we didn't notice the pinch of the tickets. Only if you commit to 5 or more days does the park ticket price per day become 'reasonable'. For us to get a basic hotel not even walking distance to Universal and only 2 days of park tickets it would have been over 1K. 

 

So yeah.... opted for a basic hotel walking distance to Disney Springs area and will go down there one day early instead of 3, and just catch a Cirque show and dinner with friends.  So yeah, not just cruising prices.

 

#bringbackthehash

Orlando will be so close for us next year

 

[carohs]

I don't like pancakes and I loathe to pay for delivery but I had to check. Local IHOP wants $11 for a stack plus taxes, fees, etc, would be $20 for pancakes here too. I understand tipping the drivers but if I have a choice of tipping for delivery or tipping to be waited on and not doing dishes, I'd rather go to the restaurant (not IHOP though, chose that for comparability). The biggest hurdle is deciding if it's worth putting on the bra to not make breakfast myself. 

 

I've been keeping my eye on NCL prices but I haven't found anything that I find worth booking. When I compare, I look at the cost of driving vs flying to another port. With airfare also having gone up lately, the total cost of going on a cruise,  the value isn't there like it used to be. Other lines have more presence out of LA so we'll probably book on those in the near future. More supply equals more choices, more possible deals.