Suites/Retreat Are Getting Pricey

[canderson]

65% of the $ in the U.S. is still held by Boomers and older.

[Syd58]

2 minutes ago, canderson said:

65% of the $ in the U.S. is still held by Boomers and older.

Excellent point. As a whole, they certainly have more discretionary income.

[goofysmom99]

Yup, Celebrity suite pricing is out of whack for me.  As long as I have to pay x2 as a solo (less only one zenith discount), I won't be booking more suites on X.  It's not just price either.  As a celiac, the food in MDR is mostly awful, Luminae is repetitively boring (plus they downgraded beef quality and removed the vacherin dessert, my pet peeves), and M and S-class specialty restaurants haven't changed their menus or upped anything but prices in close to 20 years.  I do enjoy OVC for dinner occasionally, especially stir fry or GF pizza.  Re entertainment, I haven't bothered with a show in a decade except for a few when there were three times more crew than pax after the covid restart.  Currently, I have three cruises booked on Silversea for 150% solo fares. Includes gratuities and excursions which are of little value to me, although I might take one/two.  Switching to Silversea should make corporate happy for the time being; however, Regent and Seabourn are also in my future.  All of my bookings (luxury brands?) have been priced equal to or less than a solo sky suite on X even before the status match.  

 

My Silversea veranda suite fares:

Apr 2025, 18 night Panama Canal transit, Silver Moon (2020 build) $9380, bk'd 1/23/24 (Summit for 16 nights was $17,800)

Nov 2025, 13 night TA, Silver Ray (2024 build) $7175, bk'd 1/30/24 (Ascent suites sold out, basic aqua A2 is ~$10K)

Mar 2026, 14 night TA, Silver Ray, $9813 w/10% status match, bk'd 6/03/24 (X's Spring TAs aren't out yet)

 

I do like that Silversea releases TAs far enough in advance to be able to time and book a R/T air ticket vs two one-ways.  Unfortunately, my sojourn with Silversea may be short-lived as RCG is already targeting it with hefty price increases, removing most solo supplements, and adjusting food quality.  If they downgrade the experience as much as they have on Celebrity, then NCL (Regent) and Carnival (Seabourn) will be getting more of my business, assuming they maintain solo supplements.  

[Syd58]

46 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

Yup, Celebrity suite pricing is out of whack for me.  As long as I have to pay x2 as a solo (less only one zenith discount), I won't be booking more suites on X.  It's not just price either.  As a celiac, the food in MDR is mostly awful, Luminae is repetitively boring (plus they downgraded beef quality and removed the vacherin dessert, my pet peeves), and M and S-class specialty restaurants haven't changed their menus or upped anything but prices in close to 20 years.  I do enjoy OVC for dinner occasionally, especially stir fry or GF pizza.  Re entertainment, I haven't bothered with a show in a decade except for a few when there were three times more crew than pax after the covid restart.  Currently, I have three cruises booked on Silversea for 150% solo fares. Includes gratuities and excursions which are of little value to me, although I might take one/two.  Switching to Silversea should make corporate happy for the time being; however, Regent and Seabourn are also in my future.  All of my bookings (luxury brands?) have been priced equal to or less than a solo sky suite on X even before the status match.  

 

My Silversea veranda suite fares:

Apr 2025, 18 night Panama Canal transit, Silver Moon (2020 build) $9380, bk'd 1/23/24 (Summit for 16 nights was $17,800)

Nov 2025, 13 night TA, Silver Ray (2024 build) $7175, bk'd 1/30/24 (Ascent suites sold out, basic aqua A2 is ~$10K)

Mar 2026, 14 night TA, Silver Ray, $9813 w/10% status match, bk'd 6/03/24 (X's Spring TAs aren't out yet)

 

I do like that Silversea releases TAs far enough in advance to be able to time and book a R/T air ticket vs two one-ways.  Unfortunately, my sojourn with Silversea may be short-lived as RCG is already targeting it with hefty price increases, removing most solo supplements, and adjusting food quality.  If they downgrade the experience as much as they have on Celebrity, then NCL (Regent) and Carnival (Seabourn) will be getting more of my business, assuming they maintain solo supplements.  

We’re on the same TA as you in 2026. The price is up $5k since we booked. Time will tell whether RCL has begun to adjust SS prices upward to differentiate it from Celebrity Retreat or it was just a case of lower prices as a result of booking early. I suspect it’s a combination of both.

Edited Sunday at 10:47 PM by Syd58

[billc23]

14 hours ago, Syd58 said:

We’re on the same TA as you in 2026. The price is up $5k since we booked. Time will tell whether RCL has begun to adjust SS prices upward to differentiate it from Celebrity Retreat or it was just a case of lower prices as a result of booking early. I suspect it’s a combination of both.

Me too. Now I am waiting for the Mediterranean 2026 cruises to be released.

While there are always price increases what I have noticed is the included excursions have decreased in number and some have been added to the paid excursion bookings. My experience is that if I book an included excursion that then becomes an extra paid excursion they will keep my booked excursion as free.

Edited Monday at 12:50 PM by billc23

[ExArkie]

14 hours ago, Syd58 said:

Excellent point. As a whole, they certainly have more discretionary income.

They also have a stronger tendency to hold onto it, fearing the pending (or past) end of their days with an earned income. Younger people tend to be freer spending. 
 

So, does catering to a group with 65% of total savings, but unwilling to spend more than a few dollars, prove more profitable than going after the group with 35% of total savings, but willing to spend most of it? I haven’t got a clue. Too many variables and assumptions for my economic model. 

[canderson]

45 minutes ago, ExArkie said:

They also have a stronger tendency to hold onto it, fearing the pending (or past) end of their days with an earned income. Younger people tend to be freer spending.

But for how much longer?