Extra fee to pick your own room has gotten ridiculous - time to move on?

[2chiefs]

This balcony room is $348 more to simply pick your own cabin. That’s $696.00 more to be able to pick your own room for a cabin of 2. Regardless of whether you want to classify it as insurance not to get bumped, or whether you want to call it something else. I am not going to book a room that they choose for me and I’m not going to pay that much extra so I’ll be looking at alternative vacations or alternative cruise lines. Our TA may be able to help with a group booking (we saved $1400 on a recent Oasis booking). I stand corrected on the gouging comment I made in the initial post. Perhaps a better description would be their lack of transparency in pricing and advertising. Regardless it's tougher to find affordable cruising for our family. Maybe with all the new ships coming out, the supply will outweigh the demand and pricing will be more in line with what my family can afford.

[2chiefs]

15 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Kind of hard to cite something that isn't happening.

How do you know it's not happening. Citation please...

[GetToLivin]

I don't think anyone is in love with pricing at the moment. I've stated in previous threads that over the last two years I have been able to take my family on a NYE cruise but for this upcoming year, the price is nearly double what I've paid the previous two trips. I can't book it because I can't justify it. Am I still checking pricing every single day? Yep, because you never know with dynamic pricing. Am I still irritated every day I see it's not at a price I can justify? Absolutely 🫠

 

That said, I was able to book a cruise in September that was reasonable and it was due to my having flexibility. Aside from Holiday Cruises, I habitually book based on reasonable pricing and deals are still to be found if you can be flexible. That's been my experience anyway. 

[neverbeenhere]

There are many cruise lines available for booking adventures. Many currently offer better pricing than Royal Caribbean currently offers. I say it maybe time to avail yourself of these offers. Or book last minute with Royal Caribbean, but only when there is a "deal".

[2chiefs]

3 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

There are many cruise lines available for booking adventures. Many currently offer better pricing than Royal Caribbean currently offers. I say it maybe time to avail yourself of these offers. Or book last minute with Royal Caribbean, but only when there is a "deal".

We've been looking at other lines as well. In fact, Celebrity's prices have been much more reasonable (in general for the cruises we've looked at anyway) than Royal's lately. Someone told me HAL was reasonable but the pricing I looked at was much higher for similar itineraries at similar times. We've been kind of re-thinking our cruising lately anyway. Since our first cruise on Royal in 1996, they have changed their target customer quite a bit (and we've gotten almost 30 years older - haha) so we might like something different anyway. We were just on Celebrity Beyond over Christmas and we had a great time and the ship was beautiful, but it wasn't our "cup of tea". For instance, we like traditional dining and that's not an option on Celebrity's new Edge class ships.

[2chiefs]

18 minutes ago, GetToLivin said:

I don't think anyone is in love with pricing at the moment. I've stated in previous threads that over the last two years I have been able to take my family on a NYE cruise but for this upcoming year, the price is nearly double what I've paid the previous two trips. I can't book it because I can't justify it. Am I still checking pricing every single day? Yep, because you never know with dynamic pricing. Am I still irritated every day I see it's not at a price I can justify? Absolutely 🫠

 

That said, I was able to book a cruise in September that was reasonable and it was due to my having flexibility. Aside from Holiday Cruises, I habitually book based on reasonable pricing and deals are still to be found if you can be flexible. That's been my experience anyway. 

Agree. Two of our upcoming cruises, Celebrity Eclipse and RCL Oasis OTS, were booked under a group rate otherwise the prices would have been more than what we would want to spend.

[not-enough-cruising]

2 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

For everyone asking for citations, here's one and you'll have to take my word for it that there are many more (or look for yourself). I've read somewhere that RCL is actually booking at 109% as of this month!! (sorry you'll have to find the citation yourself). Flame on......

 

‘Too Crowded’: New Data Shows Cruises Are Being Overbooked at Alarming Rates. Two major cruise lines have been overbooking cruises, according to a new report

May 26, 2023

 

The cruise industry has made a staggering comeback after pandemic-era restrictions and distancing protocols were lifted.

But now, it appears that the industry might be too popular.

According to data obtained by the Wall Street Journal, two of the biggest cruise lines — Royal Caribbean Group (RCG) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCL) — reported over 100% occupancy rates during Q1 of 2023.

RCG saw average occupancy rates of 102.1% while NCL saw 101.5%, according to the report.

Full story https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/cruises-are-being-overbooked-at-alarming-rates-report/452929

Royal's normal occupancy is between 108% and 110% regularly.  This article does not support your argument.

It does however cite the few cruises that had to bump people due to an inventory miscalculation (as stated above from the time when the post Covid bookings began to take off)

Edited February 4 by not-enough-cruising

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, 2chiefs said:

Who's confused???

Not confused at all, it appears you can book a cabin for EXACTLY the advertised price

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

“Affordable” is in the eyes of buyer, just because that’s your opinion, believe it or not, not everybody agrees with you. We buy based on “value” for the price asked, and for the last several years, none have.

I think/said cruises are still affordable for me. I didn’t say cruises were affordable for everyone, which is why I said some people may no longer be able to afford cruises based on the current prices. Even at the current prices, I think cruises are still a great value, which is why I cruise 1-2 times every month. But I understand not everyone feels the same way. 

[Mum2Mercury]

3 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

I'm not going to cite everything I've seen here.

A month or so ago we probably all read several posts about the same (very unfortunate) situation in which someone was turned away at the embarkation port.  But those posts were about the same situation, not multiples.  

3 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

RCG saw average occupancy rates of 102.1% while NCL saw 101.5%, according to the report.

I read the article, and it's important to understand what 102% and 101% (or whatever) mean.  It's easy to think it means they're booking more people than they have cabins; whereas, the truth is that when they book a 3rd or 4th person in a cabin (usually children), it means that the ship is sailing at "over capacity".  

 

I learned this years ago when we sailed (once and only once) on a holiday.  The ship was packed, and we weren't even given a table in the MDR ... rather, we were assigned to a little side room off the MDR.  When I went to the Head Waiter and asked to be moved, he explained that he could not because we were sailing at something like 105% capacity.  When I didn't understand that, he explained it was because so many cabins were filled with a 3rd or 4th person.  We did find that cruise unpleasantly "full" and promised each other "never again on a holiday", but it doesn't mean anyone was left behind.  

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

Who's confused???

I think the price of $1054/pp isn' too bad for an 8 night southern caribbean cruise.    Don't prices to the ABC islands tend to cost more than eastern or western itineraries?

 

[taglovestocruise]

2 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

This balcony room is $348 more to simply pick your own cabin. That’s $696.00 more to be able to pick your own room for a cabin of 2. Regardless of whether you want to classify it as insurance not to get bumped, or whether you want to call it something else. I am not going to book a room that they choose for me and I’m not going to pay that much extra so I’ll be looking at alternative vacations or alternative cruise lines. Our TA may be able to help with a group booking (we saved $1400 on a recent Oasis booking). I stand corrected on the gouging comment I made in the initial post. Perhaps a better description would be their lack of transparency in pricing and advertising. Regardless it's tougher to find affordable cruising for our family. Maybe with all the new ships coming out, the supply will outweigh the demand and pricing will be more in line with what my family can afford.

It is nice to see that they are really starting to give bigger discounts when you don't care where or what cabin you get.  I wish hotels would give similar discounts. 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

If something costs more than you want to spend, don't buy it.  Seems pretty simple to me.  So, to answer the OP, if cruising costs more than you want to spend, move on.  Why does it matter what someone else does with their money?

[Tatka]

We always book our own cabin because we have a different idea with RCI what is a better cabin. Location is more important to us than a type of cabin.

 

Anyway, we use online agency and book well in advance. Often we pay less for selected room than for GTYs.

[beatleman]

7 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

You are extremely overstating the number of people being "bumped" from their cruises.

If you researched a little deeper you would see there is little to no correlation in "involuntary denied boarding" between those that paid to secure a specific cabin, and those that booked a GY rate.

 

The article you quoted has as much to do with a Covid outbreak among the crew and Australia's overzealous Covid rules than it has to do with a GTY booking.

Complete load of rubbish, don't know where the Covid info came from but with so much "Fake News" in the USA I am not surprised. The facts are the Quantum OS didn't have a Covid problem and the Australian Covid Laws were scrapped months before this occurrence. The fact that Royal over booked and by the way admitted in writing of doing so speaks for itself. That's the reason boarding was denied,no other excuses. Being loyal to RCL I very rarely criticize but people being bumped is happening to often these days with both RCL and Carnival and should cease. I am the up front to criticize our Australian Governments covid laws, however the facts are they had nothing to do with these poor people getting bumped, the laws had long gone.

[Sunshine3601]

3 minutes ago, beatleman said:

Complete load of rubbish, don't know where the Covid info came from but with so much "Fake News" in the USA I am not surprised. The facts are the Quantum OS didn't have a Covid problem and the Australian Covid Laws were scrapped months before this occurrence. The fact that Royal over booked and by the way admitted in writing of doing so speaks for itself. That's the reason boarding was denied,no other excuses. Being loyal to RCL I very rarely criticize but people being bumped is happening to often these days with both RCL and Carnival and should cease. I am the up front to criticize our Australian Governments covid laws, however the facts are they had nothing to do with these poor people getting bumped, the laws had long gone.

My understanding from other passengers that posted on CC and were onboard the Quantum was there was a bunch of crew that had contracted covid and Royal quarantines those crew and moves them to guest cabins to prevent further spread in the crew quarters; therefore, some passengers were given the boot at the last minute due to crew being quarantined and not enough cabins for everyone.    

 

I personally cannot say for fact as I was not onboard the sailing.   I definitely know not to believe everything I read online.

[cj_one2000]

3 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

This balcony room is $348 more to simply pick your own cabin. That’s $696.00 more to be able to pick your own room for a cabin of 2. Regardless of whether you want to classify it as insurance not to get bumped, or whether you want to call it something else. I am not going to book a room that they choose for me and I’m not going to pay that much extra so I’ll be looking at alternative vacations or alternative cruise lines. Our TA may be able to help with a group booking (we saved $1400 on a recent Oasis booking). I stand corrected on the gouging comment I made in the initial post. Perhaps a better description would be their lack of transparency in pricing and advertising. Regardless it's tougher to find affordable cruising for our family. Maybe with all the new ships coming out, the supply will outweigh the demand and pricing will be more in line with what my family can afford.

In years past, I noticed that the pick your own cabin price was on average $40-$100 more for a stateroom with an occupancy of two adults. It was worth it to me back then so it was an easy thing to pay a little extra for the exact room we wanted. I think what the premise OP is trying to share is that now the pick your own room option is triple to four times that amount today.
 

It’s definitely a consideration when booking because the upcharge from lowest fare truly has increased in relation to the listed GTY fare, enough to make people nervous that if they don’t spend that extra cash, they are going to end up with (possibly) a crappy view/location for that category. That $100 pre-C versus ~$400 now, well it does make you think it’s a heavy increased upcharge.
 

Our last booking, I know that I felt cornered when looking online to cough up even more for a cruise vacation than in the past, on top of knowing the decline of overall service and product quality post-C. I researched other options and went with a TA that got me the room we wanted that thankfully was in their inventory without the upcharge RC was presenting on their website. We all know the upcharge is there and optional but the increase in cost can be notable to someone who pays attention to trends in the industry. 
 

Getting bumped is an extremely rare thing overall but it would make sense as a business RC would bump the cheapest rooms to make room for those who paid more. As others have stated though, I’m not completely convinced though that booking GTY significantly increases your chances of getting bumped without direct proof that’s really what RC is doing. 

[cruisinfanatic]

9 hours ago, 2chiefs said:

I guess I wasn't clear enough. The people getting bumped at the pier brought to light that the cruise lines are over-booking a lot more now. People are getting bumped more often than previously thought but since they are notified weeks in advance, it hasn't been in the news so much. I've read (and watched cruise news on YouTube) that this practice is more common that people realize. I didn't mean to over-state anything. What I do know based on my own experiences is that the charge to pick your own room has gone up significantly. 

Bumped at the pier? NO!

Happened very few times that I've ever seen

Where are your sources for all this info that only you can find?

Edited February 4 by cruisinfanatic

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

  It's easy to think it means they're booking more people than they have cabins

In the cruise industry, ships have a 100% capacity when at double occupancy in all cabins. Full occupancy can be anywhere from 120 up about 135% depending on ship. The capacity reported is for RCG overall and not for RCI. 

[PhillyFan33579]

4 hours ago, GetToLivin said:

I don't think anyone is in love with pricing at the moment. I've stated in previous threads that over the last two years I have been able to take my family on a NYE cruise but for this upcoming year, the price is nearly double what I've paid the previous two trips. I can't book it because I can't justify it. Am I still checking pricing every single day? Yep, because you never know with dynamic pricing. Am I still irritated every day I see it's not at a price I can justify? Absolutely 🫠

 

That said, I was able to book a cruise in September that was reasonable and it was due to my having flexibility. Aside from Holiday Cruises, I habitually book based on reasonable pricing and deals are still to be found if you can be flexible. That's been my experience anyway. 

Have you cruised on RCI lately? Every ship I have been on lately including Icon right now has been sailing at close to or over capacity. Saying people are not in love with the current prices is obviously not accurate based on how much very RCI cruise is sailing at close to or above 100 percent capacity. Unfortunately the current reality is some people will no longer be able to afford to sail on RCI. 

[GetToLivin]

8 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Have you cruised on RCI lately? Every ship I have been on lately including Icon right now has been sailing at close to or over capacity. Saying people are not in love with the current prices is obviously not accurate based on how much very RCI cruise is sailing at close to or above 100 percent capacity. Unfortunately the current reality is some people will no longer be able to afford to sail on RCI. 

We usually sail 2X a year, feel free to look at my signature if you want data. Not being in love with pricing doesn't mean people aren't sailing nor was my personal opinion implying that. I'm loyal to royal due to its product and my status, but that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed in the current pricing structure, and that's okay.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, GetToLivin said:

We usually sail 2X a year, feel free to look at my signature if you want data. Not being in love with pricing doesn't mean people aren't sailing nor was my personal opinion implying that. I'm loyal to royal due to its product and my status, but that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed in the current pricing structure, and that's okay.

I understand your point. I guess I am at the point where I have accepted prices for most things have increased over the last year or so. The only thing in my world that has gone down is the price  of Teslas (I purchased my recent Tesla when they were the most expensive in the Summer of 2022), But I have never purchased any car with the expectation that it would be worth more in the future. 

[Tree_skier]

13 minutes ago, GetToLivin said:

We usually sail 2X a year, feel free to look at my signature if you want data. Not being in love with pricing doesn't mean people aren't sailing nor was my personal opinion implying that. I'm loyal to royal due to its product and my status, but that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed in the current pricing structure, and that's okay.

If I remember right. you usually cruise in suites.  Is the NYE cruise that you haven't booked for family and are keep a watch on prices for going to be in suites?  

 

From my watching prices, balcony cabins, when I'm booking with my TA's groups space is up some but not catastrophically so but the suite prices I have seen have been off the charts.

 

I got a 6 night Western Caribbean on Oasis in December ~$1800 and the following week an 8 day southern Caribbean for ~$2600. That is up some but not enough to alter my cruise planning.

Edited February 5 by Tree_skier

[SUgwoz]

2 hours ago, S.A.M.J.R. said:

If something costs more than you want to spend, don't buy it.  Seems pretty simple to me.  So, to answer the OP, if cruising costs more than you want to spend, move on.  Why does it matter what someone else does with their money?

 

This is what I question when I see these threads. I do think people just want to hear others agree with them. 

 

I don't understand the point of trying to convince others that they should feel the same though. 

[GetToLivin]

47 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I understand your point. I guess I am at the point where I have accepted prices for most things have increased over the last year or so. The only thing in my world that has gone down is the price  of Teslas (I purchased my recent Tesla when they were the most expensive in the Summer of 2022), But I have never purchased any car with the expectation that it would be worth more in the future. 

 

Oh absolutely, heck, what I pay in groceries now versus a year ago isn't even in the same ballpark. Overall cost of everything is higher and so we adapt. I think people vent about pricing (which is okay to do) because they're frustrated feeling like they are being priced out of cruising or a particular brand, in Royal's case. I love RCI's product as they appeal to my demographic (career stage of life, teenager in the house, want the best of both worlds for the whole family), and I don't want to sail another brand because I feel like I would be disappointed, plus I like what my status gives me. That said, I'm not loving their prices because instead of sailing twice a year the way I want to, I might only be able to do it 1x a year. First-world problems, I know.

 

39 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

If I remember right. you usually cruise in suites.  Is the NYE cruise that you haven't booked for family and are keep a watch on prices for going to be in suites?  

 

From my watching prices, balcony cabins, when I'm booking with my TA's groups space is up some but not catastrophically so but the suite prices I have seen have been off the charts.

 

I got a 6 night Western Caribbean on Oasis in December ~$1800 and the following week an 8 day southern Caribbean for ~$2600. That is up some but not enough to alter my cruise planning.

 

Yes, we have started cruising in suites more regularly which definitely adds another layer to the budget. We are both in our (young) 40s, career stage of life, have a business on the side, and teens at home, so when we get the chance to vacation we are okay paying for the experience of Sky Class. For example, in the last two years I was able to book Sky Class for under 10k for the family. Now, that same category is 18-20k and I just can't swing that. Of course, I realize I can sail in a different category, but for me, it just won't provide the same experience that I want, so unless I can grab a "deal" (in my eyes), we might have to forgo a Holiday cruise (but I'll be checking it like a hawk every single day until the last minute, lol).