Anyone Else Leaving or Considering Leaving RCL Over Prices?

[Ocean Boy]

38 minutes ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

And then there are the 4 Ps of marketing.   Product.  Could we be seeing product differentiation w/i RCG.  There is a difference between RCL and X but was it that much of a difference.   I’m not suggesting that every RCL cruise is a party cruise but promoting Weekend Cruises suggests that it is one market being targeted.  Pricing?   There are no AI inclusive resorts in Florida (well, someone once told me there was one, but…).  I won’t spend my time trying to do an apples-to-apples for this but could it be that RCL’s pricing, which we believe has been on the upswing, may be attractive in the end?

I hope RCI's new weekend party cruises don't put more wear and tear on the ships than typical week long cruises do.

[CanadaRob]

Kind of/Maybe? , I'm Loyal to Royal and fairly thrifty but even with free stuff from a great loyalty program I can cruise cheaper with other lines.  Have another Royal and Celebrity booked, but  can't guarantee I'll be back after that 

[mac_tlc]

It's partly pricing as to why we have no Royal cruises on the books for the first time in 20 years. Its also the emphasis on 3/4 nighters. No desire for that.

 

Finally at a point in life where we like to choose a suite. Icon, Wonder, Star, Utopia suite prices are beyond crazy. Frankly, any Oasis class is also much more than other options. Only "reasonable" one is Harmony out of Galveston but not interested in departing from there. $1,000+ a day for a GS to not worth it to us. Icon/Star sometimes approach $2,000/day for 2. 

 

Last week I had a Villa Suite on hold on Symphony for July 2025. It was 70% more than the Villa Suite we sailed on Harmony in 2022. I couldn't pull the trigger though due to the price. The next day, it was still available and the asking price was $8K more than what I had held -- a full 100% more than the Harmony in 2022. 

 

Moved most of our recent sailings to Celebrity, but they are drinking the "corporate suite price KoolAid" and we are looking elsewhere there too.  

 

mac_tlc

 

 

Edited March 9 by mac_tlc

[frito58]

I’m loyal to my wife , as for a cruise line ,not so much . I have 20 something Carnival and 20 something Royal cruises under my belt . Soon will have 7 Celebrity . We have 3 NCL , now have 3 Princesses booked. I head where the itineraries are fun and ships look fun and not too big . Mid size range . Then I look at price . Getting too old to worry about anything else . 

 

 

[pstone1]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

We had over 2k kids on oasis mid march last year. 800 doesnt sound too bad. 

We don’t sail on the big ships and past sailings during the first week of March were not full of Spring Breakers.  I think the majority of the cruisers on Liberty were first-time cruisers.

[BND]

6 hours ago, firefly333 said:

We had over 2k kids on oasis mid march last year. 800 doesnt sound too bad. 

 

I'm weighing my options moving to PC. The only 7 day is star and to me more than I want to spend so its adventure or shorter cruises b2b. I also booked a 4 day utopia. I may try out another line if something doesnt pop up saying book me. Not at the prices I've seen. But I'm also booking shorter cruises. Explorer comes in the end of 2025 doing 4 and 5 days. Adventure, especially the 8 days is running $200 a day. Might as well do utopia 3 and 4 night. Hard to find any dates under $200 a day imo. 

How about 700 on Vision class during spring break?  We've had that a couple of times.

[PhillyFan33579]

10 minutes ago, BND said:

How about 700 on Vision class during spring break?  We've had that a couple of times.

What kind of parent brings a kid on a Vision class ship? 🙂

[BND]

9 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

What kind of parent brings a kid on a Vision class ship? 🙂

The ones that then complain there's not enough for their kid to do.  They also decide that the solarium pool is a requirement as their child "has to swim" when the outdoor pool is closed because a child decided it was a bathroom (actually happened like 4 times on that cruise). That was only one of many things that happened, including a family getting kicked off for something their teenager did.  

 

[island lady]

15 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I hope RCI's new weekend party cruises don't put more wear and tear on the ships than typical week long cruises do.

 

Hotels and resorts along the beach here in Florida dread Spring Break.  Kind of related I think.  😉  

[island lady]

13 hours ago, pstone1 said:

We don’t sail on the big ships and past sailings during the first week of March were not full of Spring Breakers.  I think the majority of the cruisers on Liberty were first-time cruisers.

 

Agree there my friends!  Little Radiance ladies are "just right" size.  🙂   I booked a great deal on a B2B on "Enstretchment" in a GS later this year.   Way more our style.  😉 

[Ocean Boy]

2 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Hotels and resorts along the beach here in Florida dread Spring Break.  Kind of related I think.  😉  

Sometimes the influx of cash isn't worth the unwanted consequences.

[island lady]

11 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

What kind of parent brings a kid on a Vision class ship? 🙂

 

I hope you are right.  😉 

[island lady]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

Sometimes the influx of cash isn't worth the unwanted consequences.

 

Yup.  I had many hotels along the shoreline as customers in the wine business.  Several of them closed down just before some of the heaviest spring break weeks, posting a sign "Closed for maintenance" or "Closed for remodeling".    Which of course was never done...or in some cases...some minor work.  

 

Gave the employees some vacation time, and prevented the damages.  Several of the managers and owners told me the loss of income during that time was minimal compared to the losses they suffered from damage and added security.  

 

[SUgwoz]

Others have pointed out with their experiences and also I went on two weekend cruises out of two different Florida ports in the last six months. Every weekend cruise isn't a party cruise. Add in more options there will be even less party atmosphere as it spreads out the demand.

 

Disney put their newest ship for weekend cruises, because the demand of shorter cruises not because they want party cruises. 

 

Schedules for people are typically busier than ever with commitments. While I wouldn't expect alot of out state traveller's going on these cruises, there will be a lot from Florida that just want a quick easy trip. 

[DennysDad]

I absolutely am considering other cruise lines and other types of travel. I do currently have 2 Icon trips booked, but thinking about moving on after that.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

We have booked.

 

MSC 7nt world Europa out of bacelona in april.

P&O Azura 14nt out of malta in July

Indy 9nts i think out of Southampton July 2025.

Allure 7nt out of Barcelona Oct 2025.

 

We picked these cruises for 

The ship/deal ,world Europa, Indy and Allure

Destinations Azura. 

 

Certainly not loyal to Royal. I dont agree with their nickle and dime policy or graturites but if royal have a good deal and i know what "extras" i wont be using then i will look at them. But i wont stay with just Royal. 

 

 

[pstone1]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Sometimes the influx of cash isn't worth the unwanted consequences.

Residents here are weary of the daily traffic jams and the constant shenanigans.

 

Years ago, Cocoa Beach actually had to pass a City ordinance banning furniture from the beach.  People (mostly twenty-something’s) were bringing couches, chairs, etc. to the beach. They’d find them along the way, sitting out for trash pickup. Once at the beach, they’d set up a seating area on the sand, party all day, and when it was time to go home, they would leave the furniture along with their trash.  😳

[SUgwoz]

29 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

We have booked.

 

MSC 7nt world Europa out of bacelona in april.

 

 

Speaking of MSC I see them being the primary competition with Carnival for short party weekend FL cruises. Quick lookup, May 2024 MSC $690 to get on the ship for two. $1080 gets you free drinks, internet and OBC.

 

Cheapest rccl cruise $1090, no extras.  

 

 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

16 minutes ago, SUgwoz said:

Speaking of MSC I see them being the primary competition with Carnival for short party weekend FL cruises. Quick lookup, May 2024 MSC $690 to get on the ship for two. $1080 gets you free drinks, internet and OBC.

 

Cheapest rccl cruise $1090, no extras.  

 

 

I think any short weekend 4nts or less florida cruises could fall into the "party weekend cruises" MSC save money by have less staff and less space per person then Royal. Also they are backed up by their shipping company so not in the huge debt that royal is. 

But their ships are stunning and a more European feel. Very good value for us in the UK IMO as the Graturites are included in the fare and rhey openly say no need to tip onboard. 

Edited March 10 by FamilyCruiserUK

[HicksRA]

I’m sure Royal is pleased that they are running off so many of the top tier dead weight cruisers that are costing them a lot of money in loyalty perks and replacing them with the new younger family amusement park cruisers. 
 

After all, it’s about the bottom line and that’s where the money is nowadays. They’re just not trying to appeal to the more mature cruisers which used to be the dominant demographic. 

[Snowbird_in_training]

Royal is obviously focused on new cruisers and the money they’ll bring, hoping they’ll become the new loyal to royal group.   When that group tires of the increased pricing, they’ll repeat the process.  
 

Many upper tier cruisers always sail in pricey suites, but far too many don’t.  Between all of the freebies they receive and the lower fares, Royal might be willing to sacrifice them in order to gain new money.  Maybe they hope the upper tiers will fill the ships during off seasons.  
 

For cruisers like me, 3 or 4 a year, the price increase we’ll absorb like everything else.  We’re the in between customer.  Not an upper tier, not a new cruiser with children.  We don’t always sail with Royal.   We choose on itinerary and date first, loyalty last.   It seems that everything related to travel is sky high. Airfare, hotels, cruise lines, resorts.  
 

it will be be really interesting to see how this plays out. 

[SUgwoz]

41 minutes ago, HicksRA said:

I’m sure Royal is pleased that they are running off so many of the top tier dead weight cruisers that are costing them a lot of money in loyalty perks and replacing them with the new younger family amusement park cruisers. 
 

After all, it’s about the bottom line and that’s where the money is nowadays. They’re just not trying to appeal to the more mature cruisers which used to be the dominant demographic. 

It almost sounds like Royal created an unhealthy relationship between the business and it's customers. 

[ReneeFLL]

On 3/9/2024 at 1:40 PM, pstone1 said:

We just got off a 4 night cruise on Liberty.  Our mistake as Spring Break had already started (March 4)!  There were more than 4,200 guests and more than 800 kids.  Lots of older teens, twenty-somethings, and families.

 

Luckily, we could go to the Suite Lounge and we used our BOGOs for dinner in Sabor and Giovanni’s (both excellent).  The Windjammer was packed at breakfast/lunch (and probably dinner), and MTD was packed the two nights we went. Great staff though, and good food everywhere!

Virgin Voyages will solve the problem of spring break if you don’t want to deal with the kids. Got off our first one last week and it was so nice not to have to deal kids.

[island lady]

18 hours ago, HicksRA said:

I’m sure Royal is pleased that they are running off so many of the top tier dead weight cruisers that are costing them a lot of money in loyalty perks and replacing them with the new younger family amusement park cruisers. 
 

After all, it’s about the bottom line and that’s where the money is nowadays. They’re just not trying to appeal to the more mature cruisers which used to be the dominant demographic. 

   Gee thanks for the compliment.  

 

 

[island lady]

7 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Virgin Voyages will solve the problem of spring break if you don’t want to deal with the kids. Got off our first one last week and it was so nice not to have to deal kids.

 

I have 5 Viking cruises booked.  Pricey...but oh so worth it.   And ditto to no kids.  😉