Anyone Else Leaving or Considering Leaving RCL Over Prices?

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, Kbonner said:

Pin here, just defected first time to 24 days on TUI Mein Schiff3 

RCG appreciates you keeping the revenue within the company.

[clochette]

I am really enjoying the discussion and I think a lot of the decisions are based on what cabins you cruise in.  I have never cruised in a suite, (wish I could but out of my price range) generally cruise in balcony but if out of my desired price range will do interior.  I have looked at Vikings as well as other lines, and I am sure that they are comparable to suites on Royal but for my price point much higher than what I pay on RCCL, but I have to admit some of the itineraries are really tempting and some point might try it.

[lovesthebeach2]

On 3/12/2024 at 3:39 PM, island lady said:

 

Exactly my thought.   The age of the relaxing smaller ships is gone.  Only the monster theme park ships geared to families are being built now.  RCI letting their small ships fall apart and then either junking them or selling them off.  

 

They know full well that the older generation is not into that type of thing...so it kind of tells the story by itself.  

 

If they were expanding their target base...they would have a  few of the more adventurous smaller ships on order to replace the aged ones that are leaving...of whom can go into places other than the usual Labadee, Nassau, Coco Cay etc. ports.  

But then again...RCI owns Silversea.   Time to give them a look over.  

I have, and booked it….i also booked 4 Celebrity cruises, but have not booked any new Royal cruises and unless anything really special comes along, I don’t plan to….which is sad, it’s like losing a comfortable friend

[lovesthebeach2]

On 3/12/2024 at 5:11 PM, steveru621 said:

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/discovery-class-smaller-cruise-ship

I knew about this, but by the time they make a decision and then build a new class of ship, many loyal customers may have already moved on to other lines that they didn’t know they would like as much as they do now, so why go back…

[island lady]

2 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

I have, and booked it….i also booked 4 Celebrity cruises, but have not booked any new Royal cruises and unless anything really special comes along, I don’t plan to….which is sad, it’s like losing a comfortable friend

 

Feel exactly the same.  So you booked Silversea?  That sounds exciting!  Hope you enjoy!  We are definitely going to try that related ship line as well in the future.  Saw one next to us in South America.  Beautiful ship!  And love the all inclusive ....much like Viking.  🙂 

[lovesthebeach2]

10 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Feel exactly the same.  So you booked Silversea?  That sounds exciting!  Hope you enjoy!  We are definitely going to try that related ship line as well in the future.  Saw one next to us in South America.  Beautiful ship!  And love the all inclusive ....much like Viking.  🙂 

Yes we booked an Alaska cruise on the new ship Nova. Pricy, but hoping it’s as special as it looks to be. We also liked the all inclusive that even includes excursions and door to door service.

[island lady]

32 minutes ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Yes we booked an Alaska cruise on the new ship Nova. Pricy, but hoping it’s as special as it looks to be. We also liked the all inclusive that even includes excursions and door to door service.

 

Sweet!!  🥰

 

We still have the Radiance booked for Alaska next year, B2B Seward to Seward.  Always enjoyed that set up, though was cancelled during Covid.  Will still be able to use our Pinnie perks, and are in GS on the "hump".   Following that up with a VRBO rental home on the ocean north of Homer for 3 weeks.  I have one of those "milestone" birthdays coming up for that...eeek...am I that old??!!!   😮 

[dvan68]

I feel like if you shop the sales, the fares will be comparable to HAL or Celebrity.  However, the packages and 'extras' are crazy.  I am spending much more on a peak season (July) RCCL cruise than I did on the luxury Oceania, in the same type of Balcony cabin.  Last year in Sept, the beverage package was $65 per day, internet was included, and gratuities were included. We have never done RCCL before, and have not been impressed so far with the feeling of being nickel and dimed.  We are with a group, so the selection was not really up to us.

[firefly333]

30 minutes ago, dvan68 said:

I feel like if you shop the sales, the fares will be comparable to HAL or Celebrity.  However, the packages and 'extras' are crazy.  I am spending much more on a peak season (July) RCCL cruise than I did on the luxury Oceania, in the same type of Balcony cabin.  Last year in Sept, the beverage package was $65 per day, internet was included, and gratuities were included. We have never done RCCL before, and have not been impressed so far with the feeling of being nickel and dimed.  We are with a group, so the selection was not really up to us.

For you not worth it. For me still mostly yes. I dont hardly drink so 5 free drinks a day more than enough, dont care what the pkg costs. Another 2 years I'll be pinnacle and get free wifi. And least things like excursions go on sale unlike carnival where excursions are full priced. Cheaper on rcl. And rcl gives me a solo discount. As bad as the prices are, the grass isnt greener elsewhere, just different grass.if I saw great deals elsewhere I'd do them. 

[dunrobbin]

SOMEONE WAY UP THEIR      COMMENTED THAT MORE PEOPLE WERE LEARNING THE CASINO TRICK TO GETTING FREE CRUISES. 

CAN'T FIND THE POST NOW.  CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN THE SECRET TO THE CASINO FREE CRUISES? 

THANKS!

[Tree_skier]

22 hours ago, ChittyChittyBangBang said:

Yep! We don't cruise often on Oasis Class ships. But we do enjoy Samba Grill on the  Allure OTS! 🙂

I haven't been on Oasis yet... That is one I'd like to try.  I hope they don't kill Samba grill when she goes in to dry dock... 🤞

[Tree_skier]

15 minutes ago, dunrobbin said:

SOMEONE WAY UP THEIR      COMMENTED THAT MORE PEOPLE WERE LEARNING THE CASINO TRICK TO GETTING FREE CRUISES. 

CAN'T FIND THE POST NOW.  CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN THE SECRET TO THE CASINO FREE CRUISES? 

THANKS!

Lose money, get cruises

[lovesthebeach2]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Sweet!!  🥰

 

We still have the Radiance booked for Alaska next year, B2B Seward to Seward.  Always enjoyed that set up, though was cancelled during Covid.  Will still be able to use our Pinnie perks, and are in GS on the "hump".   Following that up with a VRBO rental home on the ocean north of Homer for 3 weeks.  I have one of those "milestone" birthdays coming up for that...eeek...am I that old??!!!   😮 

Although ours was booked as a 14 day, it looks like it’s two 7 night cruises. Vancouver to Seward and Seward to Vancouver. So different ports on each. No repeats. 

[brevardcruiser]

On 3/21/2024 at 11:16 AM, pstone1 said:

Yep!  We’ve only taken two cruises on the mega ships, and they were immediately after the Covid comeback, so much reduced capacity.  We enjoyed those two cruises, but won’t be booking again with regular crowds.  Just not for us.

 

If they do build the smaller “Project Discovery” ships in the future, I’m sure they will follow the new norm and debut with ridiculous prices.

Today at captains corner that was brought up.  Jarret on adventure said 2029 a new class of ships “medium” around the size of voyager class would come out.  He said Florida Europe and Alaska. 
 

stay tuned…

[Vibe]

19 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

I haven't been on Oasis yet... That is one I'd like to try.  I hope they don't kill Samba grill when she goes in to dry dock... 🤞

The Oasis has never had the Samba Grill like the Allure.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, dunrobbin said:

SOMEONE WAY UP THEIR      COMMENTED THAT MORE PEOPLE WERE LEARNING THE CASINO TRICK TO GETTING FREE CRUISES. 

CAN'T FIND THE POST NOW.  CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN THE SECRET TO THE CASINO FREE CRUISES? 

THANKS!

There is no secret or trick to getting casino offers. The bottom line is in most cases you have to gamble a significant amount of money before you start receiving cruise offers from the casino. If you are playing slots, you have to gamble at least $6,000 on a cruise to receive the minimum offer of an interior cabin on limited cruises. Keep in mind that is a total of $6,000, not $6,000 at once. If things are going well for you on a cruise, ideally most of the money you are gambling with is the casino’s money. There is a lot more to the casino program, but above is a quick introduction to slot machines. The bottom line is the majority of people who gamble on ships lose money. There are always exceptions to this, but the casino program wouldn’t exist if the majority of gamblers weren’t losing money. 

[snaefell]

We have been seriously tempted by a Med cruise with RCI,we can get the cruise for a very tempting price but it is the 'extras' that put us off,in a few weeks we will be sailing on Anthem & know how expensive speciality dining,shore excursions & drinks are compared to a recent cruise with P&O,drinks with P&O were similar to local pub prices while the other two 'extras'  are around three times dearer with RCI.

[Oceansaway17]

not leaving but not changing either.

I have a cruise on Symphony this year, and wanted to move to next year around the same time, well it would be $1k more so staying put.  RCI must be trying to pay off debt sooner than later.

[SUgwoz]

4 hours ago, dvan68 said:

I feel like if you shop the sales, the fares will be comparable to HAL or Celebrity.  However, the packages and 'extras' are crazy.  I am spending much more on a peak season (July) RCCL cruise than I did on the luxury Oceania, in the same type of Balcony cabin.  Last year in Sept, the beverage package was $65 per day, internet was included, and gratuities were included. We have never done RCCL before, and have not been impressed so far with the feeling of being nickel and dimed.  We are with a group, so the selection was not really up to us.

Royal has more families sailing and still more often than not families take their big vacations in the summer.  Oceania I would imagine has an older average demographic that are not restricted with travel times.

[Another_Critic]

5 hours ago, brevardcruiser said:

Today at captains corner that was brought up.  Jarret on adventure said 2029 a new class of ships “medium” around the size of voyager class would come out.  He said Florida Europe and Alaska. 
 

stay tuned…

Hopefully Baltimore and Tampa too!  🤞

[Tree_skier]

11 hours ago, Vibe said:

The Oasis has never had the Samba Grill like the Allure.

I mis spoke, I meant to say I hadn’t been on Allure. I’ve been on Oasis. 🤪

[Kbonner]

18 hours ago, Biker19 said:

RCG appreciates you keeping the revenue within the company.

only about 50%, and the best yet to come: 2 stateroom services per day, gratuities included in the price, no Coastal kitchen hassles. No Pin and suite guest seating competitions anymore (which biker19 will be sad of)

[lovesthebeach2]

16 hours ago, brevardcruiser said:

Today at captains corner that was brought up.  Jarret on adventure said 2029 a new class of ships “medium” around the size of voyager class would come out.  He said Florida Europe and Alaska. 
 

stay tuned…

We also heard this a long time ago, at least a year ago. I’ll get excited when construction of a new smaller ship begins. We love the Radiance class ships, but they’re definitely showing their age ☹️

[GlenG]

Once we do Anthem OTS in June, this will be the first time in many years that we have no forward bookings with RCL. On the upside, their crazy pricing has prompted us to check out 2 cruise lines we have not sailed with prior, so it’s been a good motivator for us!

[island lady]

18 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Although ours was booked as a 14 day, it looks like it’s two 7 night cruises. Vancouver to Seward and Seward to Vancouver. So different ports on each. No repeats. 

 

Nice!!   We are always the odd balls doing our TAD in Vancouver.  Most times the port authority and the ship does not know what to do with us.  Seward is normally where most do their TAD.