jticarruthers

I will be making Diamond this year and struggling to find a cruise to book after making it there :(
 
Springbreak '16 the price/availability basically drove me to the competition (7 night on Escape including Bev Package for slightly less than 5 night on Brilliance before adding the package, so apples to apples much cheaper) , still hoping that Thanksgiving will reveal something that I can justify booking when they release it later this month.
 
I want to be loyal, just cant justify it !

Two Disneys, 10 or so Royals, 2 Carnivals and our first on NCL coming up in a year or so.
 
Taking money out of the equation my preference would always be Disney. Just felt like the attention to detail and service was spectacular for us on both cruises we did with Disney. Royal is solid and we enjoy them (2 more this year so clearly not anti-Royal) but on all the cruises we have been on it has felt just a notch behind Disney, Carnival distant third and expecting NCL to be comparable to Royal from all accounts.
 
Including price though makes it a really tough decision. Typically Disney seems to run 2 times a comparable RCL which exceeds my cost/benefit point and explains why we do Royal much more frequently than Disney though.
 
Things we do/don't worry about when we cruise that might affect your decision.
 
Not really "foodies", MDR works for us, more about having a good attentive wait team, relaxing and enjoying ourselves that obsessing over whether the food was the greatest thing in the world. Occasionally do a Specialty but not a big deal.
Not really gamblers, might do a few dollars on slots or a couple rounds of blackjack but generally avoid the smokepit :)
Not heavy drinkers, a couple of beers/drinks a day is good, not paying for high end liquor, etc.
Enjoy casual entertainment, relaxing, disconnecting from the "real" world.
 
My feeling, Disney is a notch above but the notch isn't usually big enough to justify the price gap and I think you would be happy on a Royal cruise.

No plans to sail Oasis class again so doesn't really impact me either way but hoping it decreases the odds of DD finding its way down to Freedom class anytime soon.

I will be making Diamond this year and struggling to find a cruise to book after making it there :(
 
Springbreak '16 the price/availability basically drove me to the competition (7 night on Escape including Bev Package for slightly less than 5 night on Brilliance before adding the package, so apples to apples much cheaper) , still hoping that Thanksgiving will reveal something that I can justify booking when they release it later this month.
 
I want to be loyal, just cant justify it !

Agree and disagree :)
 
I was tracking pricing on several cruises about this time last year trying to get a family group together. Those cruises included Summer of '14, Thanksgiving '14, Springbreak of '15, Thanksgiving of '15 and ultimately Springbreak of '16. (I was posting somewhat frantically asking when the itineraries for late '15 and early '16 would be released right about this time last year because I was going to be on Allure late in March and wanted to book then if possible for the On Board Booking benefit).
 
When the BOGO/KSF deals first came out there were some real reductions in price from what they were at right before the deal. After a very short window, maybe a week or two ? (in which I put deposits on all of the above) the prices "bounced" back to almost exactly what they were before the sales started. Since then they have only ever trended up :)
 
On the one hand you are right in that all cruises trend up over time (at least until final payment) that's the nature of the pricing game, but it's also clear that the BOGO deals basically became a much more exciting way of saying "the price is the same as it has been for months and it isn't going to go down for any reason but this sounds like a great deal doesn't it".
 
If they don't want to discount, fair enough, no problem. The price is either reasonable or it isn't. But the constant game playing gets old. Would much rather see a clean price and then an occasional OBC offer rather than a constant BOGO barrage with all kinds of not-combinables with this or that which make it hard to figure out what the price really is.

Agree and disagree :)
 
I was tracking pricing on several cruises about this time last year trying to get a family group together. Those cruises included Summer of '14, Thanksgiving '14, Springbreak of '15, Thanksgiving of '15 and ultimately Springbreak of '16. (I was posting somewhat frantically asking when the itineraries for late '15 and early '16 would be released right about this time last year because I was going to be on Allure late in March and wanted to book then if possible for the On Board Booking benefit).
 
When the BOGO/KSF deals first came out there were some real reductions in price from what they were at right before the deal. After a very short window, maybe a week or two ? (in which I put deposits on all of the above) the prices "bounced" back to almost exactly what they were before the sales started. Since then they have only ever trended up :)
 
On the one hand you are right in that all cruises trend up over time (at least until final payment) that's the nature of the pricing game, but it's also clear that the BOGO deals basically became a much more exciting way of saying "the price is the same as it has been for months and it isn't going to go down for any reason but this sounds like a great deal doesn't it".
 
If they don't want to discount, fair enough, no problem. The price is either reasonable or it isn't. But the constant game playing gets old. Would much rather see a clean price and then an occasional OBC offer rather than a constant BOGO barrage with all kinds of not-combinables with this or that which make it hard to figure out what the price really is.

Just did my "before" look and the prices on all the cruises I have watching all spiked up in the past week or so ... be curious to see if they magically come back to the same number next week or hold at the higher price.
 
Right now I am glad I booked my two 2015 cruises at the start of BOGO last year and cant see myself booking another cruise on RCL anytime soon if the pricing doesn't come back to earth.

Completely uninspired by the sale :)
 
Sticking with my NCL booking for now for next spring which was BOGO AND UBP not Give up the BOGO if you want the Beverage package.
 
Will continue to evaluate up until final payment but so far NCL Escape is way ahead on price :) Only time will tell on everything else.

Just did my "before" look and the prices on all the cruises I have watching all spiked up in the past week or so ... be curious to see if they magically come back to the same number next week or hold at the higher price.
 
Right now I am glad I booked my two 2015 cruises at the start of BOGO last year and cant see myself booking another cruise on RCL anytime soon if the pricing doesn't come back to earth.

We already put Chops on the "don't bother" list at the old price, price increase just seals the deal.
 
The experience changed a lot in our brief cruise history from a "special" experience at $20 on our first go around (Liberty) to nothing special at $35 last time we tried it (Allure).
 
Looking forward to trying Sabor this Thanksgiving on Freedom though.

Primary reason for me to transfer to a TA would be the cash back. Typically about 8% per cruise or so in OBC ... adds up to a free cruise pretty fast :)

It has to be purchased with at least 4 days left (unless on a 3 day cruise in which case its all or nothing). We did something similar on Allure earlier this year, skipped the first night (since we had BOGO coupons and also did the Ritas Cantina Fiesta which included 3 drinks each for $10) and then bought the package the morning of day 2 for the rest of the cruise.

I agree Michelle. I won't be surprised to see the idea fade away. We love specialty dining but 2 or 3 a trip is it. Think they may ne headed for Delta premium pay for everything? MDR comp dining is what makes cruising unique from land based venues. They really need to be careful about messing with it!

If DD means you you lose having the same waiter for the whole trip then I am staunchly opposed!  I just got off a cruise on NCL.  It was terrible compared to RCCL.  One of the major problems was the service at dinners.  I think the connection to you waiter that you get to know - and he/she gets to know you - is one of the special things on a cruise.

Cruise regularly out of Florida at Thanksgiving and Springbreak and it is usually pool weather pretty much from the beginning on those cruises (with an occasional exception for a front coming through for example).
 
Did Disney out to the Bahamas last January and we were in the pool on that one and hit the beach at Castaway Cay but it was definitely "cooler" than usual.
 
If you are headed south out of Florida into the Caribbean it stays pleasant most of the year. If you are coming down from a northern port the first few days are likely not as pleasant ;)

They don't force you off when your number is called so if you just want to sit on the boat until the last number is called you can do so.
 
The biggest difference between self assist and waiting on your number is whether you turn your luggage over the night before or carry it yourself.
 
If it were me and I was in no rush I would turn my luggage in the night before so that I don't have to keep track of it all morning on disembarkation day and then at some point after my number was called do a leisurely walk off. There isn't a lot of stuff open though since the ships focus is on getting everyone off so they can turn it around and get everyone on again though.

I was mostly joking on the propulsion comment, just frustrating that the ship will be in drydock in a few days and they still haven't said what to expect afterwards ;)

There should be more than enough time. Similar problems on Allure and Adventure were handled in such a manner.

(and hopefully they'll fix the propulsion issues they've been having the last few weeks...)

I think the restaurant rumored to go into the nightclub is Sabor ?

And another one in the Windjammer if you need to get "seconds" :)

And another one in the Windjammer if you need to get "seconds" :)

And another one in the Windjammer if you need to get "seconds" :)

IIRC Starbucks is included on all ships except Oasis and Allure, on those two the specialty coffee from the "other" coffee shops is included but not the standalone Starbucks on the promenade. Not a coffee drinker myself so I could be wrong but pretty sure that was the story on Starbucks on RCL.

For us it depends a lot on the itinerary and who we are with.
 
On Allure we had a Western itinerary, from memory we had 3 sea days + Labadee and for Falmouth planned to stay onboard so we had 5 "drinking" days. We held off on buying the first night so we only paid for a 6 day package anyway, so basically on 5 of the 6 days had a shot at drinking enough to make it work.
 
Basically thought we broke even on the deal but we enjoyed the ability to "try" drinks we usually wouldn't pay for.
 
On Vision we had day one, 2 sea days and Cozumel. Ordinarily wouldn't have bought the package but we were doing a first time cruise with friends that border on alcoholic so we went ahead and bought it. Came out way ahead on the deal after spending most nights parked at a bar doing shots, etc.
 
Will be on Indy for Thanksgiving with my family and wont even think about buying the package, different group of people, most likely to be a couple of beers a day if that so no sense forking out for it.
 
Like I said the value of the package for us is heavily dependent on who we are with and what the itinerary is, but our default setting is "not worth it".