Why RCCL so much higher priced?

[Solida123]

I always have considered Princess to be a cut (or at least a half-cut) above Royal Caribbean. Yet every time I research cruise prices, Princess and Carnival are usually comparable while Royal Caribbean is $300-500 more per person.

 

I've never sailed RCCL. however, I certainly don't have the impression that it is more upscale. Of course we are all aware that RCCL has a rock-climbing wall and skating rink (neither activities appeal to me in the slightest). There must be more to justify such a dramatically higher price. Could those with experience provide some insight on this?

 

Maybe they are filling their ships due to superior marketing? Their commercials, at least to me, seem to be looking to attract the upper-middle class family with 5-12 year-old kids who play soccer and surf in their spare time!

[dforeigner]

Because they have a rock climbing wall? Some of their ships even have an ice skating ring.

[Toto2Kansas]

Not too many years ago, RCI changed their pricing where TA's were no longer allowed to discount the price like they do on Princess. Since then, I agree, the prices are usually quite higher than what you can find on Princess.

We had booked shortly before this occured for an RCI cruise. Afterwards, we realized, we needed to go back to Princess. RCI could not hold a candle anymore to what Princess offered and with the higher prices, forget it.

[taxatty]

On comparable itineraries and ships (like Radiance v. Coral), RCI is usually hundreds higher, except when it has its Promowave and other special sales, when it can beat Princess--you have to shop carefully and constantly. We've found the products to be quite similar, each has some things that it does better than the other.

Les

[Coral]

On a side note, RCCL often has coupons for their repeat passengers which can end up being worth hundreds of dollars off certain cabins from what I understand. This brings the cost down. I haven't looked at the coupons recently as I am not interested in sailing RCCL but I still get the email that my coupons are available for viewing.

 

I admit - RCCL has a fantastic marketing department. It has paid off very well for them!

[woodofpine]

There you have it... are MIGHTY expensive! I don't think I've ever seen a Princess ad on the TV.

 

Big C. has big purchasing power and is smarter about finance from ship construction to fuel oil hedging.

 

I've never been on RCCL (I like X), but really... which company is 'smarter'? Which company initiated a voluntary merger with Princess? (RCI) And which company did Princess end up with? (Carnival Corp.)

 

Ultimately, all this is reflected in who's got the more competitive fares?

[ancldaca]

The downpayment for the next billion dollar Monstrocity of the Seas must come from somewhere else other than skimping on proper seasonings that make RCCL's food unedible...

[DanJ]

A company's need for higher fares to pay for TV commercials and new mega-ships doesn't automatically mean people will pay those higher fares if they aren't attracted to the product. Obviously they charge more because people will pay it.

[Ephraim]

The biggest reason.... they are different products.

 

While they are comparable in many ways, they are also different in many ways. You are more likely to see "name" talent on an RCL ship (don't expect top of the line names.... I'm talking about down and out, but still names you might recognize.) For example, RCL had Lance Ringnald the US Gymnast on the Brilliance in April.

 

From my experience, the RCL ships definitely have the *wow* factor when it comes to design and efficiency. And a lot of people get significant discounts for being past passengers, booking well ahead of time and booking on the ship. (Plus OBC).

 

There are certainly some deals to be had, especially on the Transatlantic cruises.

[Robb]

Sometimes it just depends on the cruise. We are doing a transatlantic on both Princess and RCCL. We have an owner's suite on RCCL and just a balcony on Princess. The Princess cruise balcony is actually costing a few hundred more than the RCCL cruise owner's suite. Go figure?!?!?!?

 

Hey, its only money. I just had a root canal and it has ended up costing more than our Hawaii cruise a few years back. :eek:

[Solida123]

I'll probably try Royal Caribbean one of these days I appreciate everyone's opinions on this.

[StrikeEagle]

If you compare the same size of the ship, same length of the trip, same type of cabins both Royal Caribbean and Princess prices are almost the same. For example RCI Mariner of the Seas 7 days and Caribbean Princess 7 days, the prices are almost the same. (those 2 ships are not exactly the same size, but it is in the comparable range). And also by comparing the prices using the same method of comparing each cruiselines, by going directly to their web sites instead of using travel agents.

 

But if you compare RCI largest ships such as the Freedom class, these ships are much more bigger than any of the Princess ships and has more things to do on the ship such as ice skating, water parks, rock climbing, it also included flat panel TV in each room and free wireless internet in your room, but the 7 days on the Freedom class is more expensive than a 7 days cruise on the Princess Grand class ships.

 

By the way, the RCI ship Mariner of the Seas has the ice skating ring and also has a great ice skating show.

[Salty Dawg]

If you are willing to sail on short notice, RCL can have a few bargains.

 

However, I agree with Toto, RCL is "price fixing", although it's apparenly legal, by not allowing their TA's to deviate from the company price.

 

Princess, on the other hand, allows TA's to discount, and rebate back part (or most) of their commission to the customer, hence better deals.

[mustlovecruising]

One off these days I am sure that I will try RCI, But they are going to have to sell me first on why I would pay a higher price.

 

Been on HAL ,X ,And Princess.

 

But every time I look at a cruise RCI gives me nothing different than a higher fare so I stay with I have enjoyed.

 

Friends have been on RCI and like Princess better. Good enough for me!

[debshomespun]

Royal Caribbean does have the WOW factor. As you can see, it is our favorite cruise line. We have been on the Caribbean Princess. The food was very comperable, shows, not near as good on Princess. The ice shows on the RC ships are the most spectacular shows at sea. The Voyager class and Freedom class RC ships have the Royal Promenade down the middle of the ships with parades, the shops, small cafes, something totally different on their ships. While on princess, we encountered some of the rudest and crankiest staff ever. They hardly ever smiled or said good morning unless you spoike to them first. This is just my opinion. Our TA does rebate back extra OBC for our RC bookings. We also get fantastic deals through the Crown & Anchor program. RC also has welcome back parties, Crown & Anchor parties for higher level customers. Yes, marketing will play a key roll in obtaining customers, but RC sells itself. They do offer a fantastic product. Yes, I will sail Princess again, we just prefer Royal Caribbean over the others. I don't think you would be disappointed in trying Royal Caribbean. As always, you need to go with an open mind, and be open to change.

 

For our Panama canal cruise on the Jewel of the Sea (RC) we compared balcony rooms on several lines. With our standing in the Crown & Anchor program, we will receive $300. off our total booking, and since we booked while on board another cruise, we are getting $200. on board credit. We also have a RC Visa card, and will be cashing in some points for additonal credit on the cruise.

 

We also have a Norwegian credit card. We are saving points on this card to cash in for a cruise on NCL to Hawaii. Looking at 2009 for this, and we will save $1000. off our fare.

[roe2ship]

If you compare the same size of the ship, same length of the trip, same type of cabins both Royal Caribbean and Princess prices are almost the same. For example RCI Mariner of the Seas 7 days and Caribbean Princess 7 days, the prices are almost the same. (those 2 ships are not exactly the same size, but it is in the comparable range).

I compared the exact same two ships last year for 8 different cabin categories, from inside to mini/jr. suites. ALL were 200.00 to even 500.00 more per person on the Mariner. In fact, throughout the year before our sailing, I watched both ships pricing. The Mariner had several increases while the Caribbean Princess prices were the same and then dropped about four months prior to sailing. Even now I look for my upcoming cruise on AOS for price drops and it has gone up 300.00 pp for my D1 cabin.:rolleyes: And at those prices, I probably would have not booked. Then again, if Princess had a ship in the Southern Caribbean during Summer, I would be on that ship in a heartbeat.:)

 

but the 7 days on the Freedom class is more expensive than a 7 days cruise on the Princess Grand class ships.

Actually any 7 days on Voyager class is more expensive than on Princess' Grand class. The Freedom class prices are through the roof. I guess supply and demand.

[attilamom1217]

We have sailed on RCCI (twice) and Celebrity (once) and are looking into the possibility of cruising on Princess. This is an interesting thread.

 

"But if you compare RCI largest ships such as the Freedom class, these ships are much more bigger than any of the Princess ships and has more things to do on the ship such as ice skating, water parks, rock climbing, it also included flat panel TV in each room and free wireless internet in your room, but the 7 days on the Freedom class is more expensive than a 7 days cruise on the Princess Grand class ships.

 

By the way, the RCI ship Mariner of the Seas has the ice skating ring and also has a great ice skating show."

All of the Voyager class ships have the ice skating rinks; all of the RCCI ships have the rock climbing walls (they were retrofitted onto the older ships). The Freedom class is the only class with the water park and surfing.

We found the food in the dining rooms of Explorer and Mariner of the Seas to be Very Good to Excellent; while the buffet was mediocre at best.

Entertainers - on Mariner we had the Drifters and that was a great show; the rest of the shows are typical production shows, comedians, etc. However the ice skating show (Voyager and Freedom Class ships) is worth the time. It's amazing!

How is the food on Princess? Is it difficult to get a table at dinner if you are not doing the traditional dining?

Thanks

[StrikeEagle]

I compared the exact same two ships last year for 8 different cabin categories, from inside to mini/jr. suites. ALL were 200.00 to even 500.00 more per person on the Mariner. In fact, throughout the year before our sailing, I watched both ships pricing. The Mariner had several increases while the Caribbean Princess prices were the same and then dropped about four months prior to sailing. Even now I look for my upcoming cruise on AOS for price drops and it has gone up 300.00 pp for my D1 cabin.:rolleyes: And at those prices, I probably would have not booked. Then again, if Princess had a ship in the Southern Caribbean during Summer, I would be on that ship in a heartbeat.:)

 

Actually any 7 days on Voyager class is more expensive than on Princess' Grand class. The Freedom class prices are through the roof. I guess supply and demand.

 

Last year around 8/2006 we were deciding between Mariner of the Seas and Caribbean Princess for the 10/2007 sailings. We were looking at the prices of both cruise lines for the lowest priced balcony cabin and both were in the $850 dollars range for each person. Because we have been on RCI cruise 4 times before including Mariner of the Seas and we want to try Princess that's why we booked Princess. These prices are if you booked more than a year in advance. But when we look at the Freedom of the Seas and the Caribbean Princess more than a year in advance, The lowest price of Freedom of the Seas balcony cabin was about 1100, and Caribbean Princess was 850 per person.

 

The marketing strategies between both cruise lines varies, prices goes up/down depends on many factors, you just have to keep monitoring them.

 

Also during the strongest huricanne season from September through October, this is the time when the prices are in their lowest. We always booked cruises sailing at the end of October for the best price and also the less chance of a hurricane and always book more than a year in advance. So far we are lucky to have great weather for all our 5 cruises in the October time frame.

[StrikeEagle]

I do agree that lately the price for RCI has increased more than Princess (in proportion) than what it used to be.

 

May be it is because RCI have additional new ships more often than Princess and they need to increase the price to cover those new additional ships. ;)

[sadie8]

With children still in school, we need to cruise during the peak summer months. Princess does not have a presence in the caribbean in the summer. The only option for the caribbean in the summer with Princess is the Caribbean Princess out of New York for a 10 day cruise. We are willing to cruise Princess or Royal Caribbean, whoever has the best itinerary, ship, and price for our available dates. In the summer it is probably RCCL, but October through May Princess is very competitive on price and itinerary.

[nosmothj]

When post like this it would be great to have prices that you can show as an example.

We have booked a E1 balcony cabin on the Explorer for Feb. 22/09, 12 day cruise with a $200 on board credit for $2918. I average that out to $121.58 per person per day.

Leaving out of NJ.

I think that is a great price but do have examples of better?

[A Sixth?]

..... How is the food on Princess? Is it difficult to get a table at dinner if you are not doing the traditional dining?

 

Thanks

 

I sailed the Mariner this August, because it was so much less expensive last minute than the Caribbean Princess.

 

Yes there was a "wow" factor to the ship, but the food in no way compared to the Princess food we've had. And it's not just subjective, I can quantify the difs. The choices are much more limited on the Mariner. At the buffet we liked to take a cheese plate back to our room for happy hour. On Princess there was a huge assortment of pates, cheeses and cold cuts; on the Mariner a few sliced cheeses, no pate at all and three types of processed meat. :(

 

Dinner menus on the Mariner were shabby paper ones like you'd see at Pancake Hut, not classy leather ones like on Princess and the choices inside the menus weren't as exciting.

 

Getting a bar set up is not doable on RCL, and the room stewards are not allowed to refill your ice bucket outside of their schedules, they'll instruct you to visit a bar for ice. On Princess they'll bend over backwards to please you.

 

There are other things, but though we enjoyed our Mariner cruise, we much prefer Princess. (Having tried eight cruise lines so far)

 

BTW our top floor balcony cabin cost about $ 850.00 CAN each all taxes in booked five weeks before sailing

 

[PescadoAmarillo]

You also have to compare cabins. For example, RC's balcony cabins are larger than Princess's, with a sofa sitting area. Princess's just have a single barrel chair plus the chair at the vanity area. RC's junior suites significantly larger than the mini's on the Grand class ships (but not the Sun class). For the only really comparable price comparison, you'd have to compare inside to inside pricing, or oceanview to oceanview pricing.

 

Princess's Sun class ships are more similar to RC's Legend class ships, but the latter does have a covered pool area that the Sun class ships lack, and I would think would be preferable for cool weather cruises. You could compare the Island/Coral pricing to the Radiance class ships, I think, but Princess doesn't have a ship with all the amenity choices of the Voyager or Freedom class ships (whether you want to partake in those choices is a whole other discussion), so you have to keep that in mind when comparing pricing.

 

For past RC passengers, the pricing is lower, sometimes quite a bit, as has been mentioned. But there also seems to be fundamental pricing strategy differences between the two cruise lines, not only with RC's non-discounting policy, but also because they do sail their ships less than full, while Princess will discount till they fill their ships. I think, in general, the better "last minute" deals are on Princess, but, of course, this is not always the case.

[coiran]

Maybe they have "FREE ICE CREAM" 24/7!! - and - Trays in the buffet!!!

Ron

[coiran]

Maybe they have "FREE ICE CREAM" 24/7!! - and - Trays in the buffet!!!

Ron