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Discount Cruise Option Dicussion


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 RCCL, among other cruise lines seem to be going the route of making cruising less inclusive in some ways, charging extra for things that were once included such as drinks and all dining options. I know this is a way to entice people who may not normally cruise with a lower price point and allow RCCL, to make more profit. 

Would anyone be willing to book a cruise at a reduced rate if say, the only option you had for meals was the WJ?

What about no housekeeping during your cruise?

Anything else you'd be willing to live without for a discount?

Maybe they could offer a limited number of cabins at a reduced price point with limited inclusions?

Just a conversation starter. I'm curious to here others opinions.

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Walt Disney World has started offering gift cards for waiving housekeeping. It only applies at certain resorts and has to be for the set minimum days. I don't know all the details since I have not stayed at a resort that offers it, but I know people are jumping on it. I could see something like this on a ship being an option. One caveat is that even if you waive housekeeping, they will still do a daily room check for security purposes. 

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1 minute ago, wstephensi said:

Ssh!  If RCI sees this we will all be paying to get our linen changed and fresh towels.  Today's discounts are tomorrow's up charges.  ?

Don't fool yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't already run the numbers on this.

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No, there is no possible way I would book that at all.  I would rather go on one vacation per year with my bathroom being cleaned daily than go on a cruise with no housekeeping.  Honestly, I would absolutely positively never even book on a cruise that offered this kind of option...cruise ships are known to be petri dishes.  I don't want to be in a cabin where the last passenger stayed in for a week and the only time housekeeping showed up was the a.m. of the day I was boarding.

Funny thing is I do pick up after myself for our cabin attendant....all the towels are placed in a pile on the floor,  I make my bed, but they still re-make it usually, and all of our garbage is placed in one area.   

I don't really believe there is anything left to cut and I bet most cruise lines have already to see via market research what cruisers want now.  If you look at Virgin, they millennials want cruises where nobody under 18 can be on the ship.  Look at Viking River demographics and are marketing towards everything is included, alcohol, excursions, airfare, etc., but you will be paying a lot for that voyage.

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Just now, FManke said:

Don't fool yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't already run the numbers on this.

Many hotels have done this.  I want to say when we stayed at Courtyard by Marriot in the Inner Harbor (Baltimore), they left a note and stated that if you forewarned them by a certain hour the day before that you did not want to have the room cleaned, they would discount the cost, by I think it was 15 or 20 bucks.  However, they did note that you could only do this every other day, so it is not like you can stay in the room for a week without it being cleaned.  

Again, how many of you can wash your hands at home after a cruise without singing washy washy?  

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8 minutes ago, kadmgs said:

Walt Disney World has started offering gift cards for waiving housekeeping. It only applies at certain resorts and has to be for the set minimum days. I don't know all the details since I have not stayed at a resort that offers it, but I know people are jumping on it. I could see something like this on a ship being an option. One caveat is that even if you waive housekeeping, they will still do a daily room check for security purposes. 

I bet you those are for the ones like hotels that have kitchenettes also in them.  We stayed at the Key Largo which was by Downtown Disney.  It was more like a 2 bedroom 2 bath condo.  We had a full kitchen, including a dishwasher, living room, dining room etc.  Thus, I can see people taking them up on the offer.  I believe they also have something like this at Frontier too.  

 

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3 minutes ago, Pima1988 said:

Many hotels have done this.  I want to say when we stayed at Courtyard by Marriot in the Inner Harbor (Baltimore), they left a note and stated that if you forewarned them by a certain hour the day before that you did not want to have the room cleaned, they would discount the cost, by I think it was 15 or 20 bucks.  However, they did note that you could only do this every other day, so it is not like you can stay in the room for a week without it being cleaned.  

Again, how many of you can wash your hands at home after a cruise without singing washy washy?  

Ok, so for you , leave out the housekeeping portion. What about only being able to eat in the WJ? Current discussions, have left me with the opinion that many people prefer it to the MDR any ways.

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1 minute ago, mworkman said:

Marriott offers it and its for 3 consecutive days being the longest with point for rewards.  I don't/won't  participate for the simple reason of it employs a person.

True, but then why don't they charge more for the cruises, employ more people and service would be even better?

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1 minute ago, FManke said:

True, but then why don't they charge more for the cruises, employ more people and service would be even better?

i'm sure over the course of time if this becomes an option, it will require less employee's and more work for the ones currently working on-board. They work long hours enough already.

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@FManke,

I would only do that if it was a 3 or 4 night cruise and a heavy port itinerary where I know I wouldn't be eating 3 meals everyday in the WJ.  Think about how on boarding day everybody kvetches about how crowded the WJ is, now imagine that for every day of your cruise.  

 

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It's just a discussion of what people want and what they don't want,

I'm happy with the ways things are now.

I'm just curious about what others have to say.

Some people vacation at the Motel 6 and some stay at The Four Seasons.

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Just now, Pima1988 said:

@FManke,

I would only do that if it was a 3 or 4 night cruise and a heavy port itinerary where I know I wouldn't be eating 3 meals everyday in the WJ.  Think about how on boarding day everybody kvetches about how crowded the WJ is, now imagine that for every day of your cruise.  

 

People wouldn't be forced into it. it would be an option that you choose. Hopefully you would know what you would be getting yourself into.

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This  is true.   However, in that same vein, realize these hotels have a target demographic market and part of that is a price point aspect.  Many people love Carnival, but many find them to be the cheap cruise line.  Now, if RCCL does not want to go head to head with them and lower their image they will stay away from it.  Look at a big flop impo for RCCL.  I think they were trying to take a bite out of Disney Cruises with them having Pixar characters on the ship.  They have decided not to continue with the program.    

If you ask most TA's how they would describe RCL to NCL to Carnival.  RCL they would say is 4 star, NCL is 3 and Carnival is 2.  I have never been on Carnival, many of my family members have cruised Carnival, but only 1x.  After that they swore they would never go back on their ships, hence, why I have never been on Carnival.  They rotate between NCL, RCL and Princess, mainly because all of them sail out of NJ/NY. 

Honestly, depending on how will Virgin does,  to me that is something I could see them aiming for from a marketing aspect.  They can overhaul Majesty or Enchantment to make it a hip ship.

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No to any of the discussion, we need multiple dinning venues, we need house keeping.

I agree with @Pima1988 rating system, it's been awhile since I've been on Princess but would rank them a 3.5-4.0. I don't think I would go back to NCL unless I was in the Haven.

Looking forward to trying Celebrity in the future.

I think the matrix of measuring staff to cruiser ratio is a good measurement of what cruise lines and cruisers should measure. If RCCL starts to change that ratio I would be forced to look at other cruise lines. Some of the smaller boutique cruise lines stay full because of a higher staff to cruiser ratio, IMO.

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46 minutes ago, mook1525 said:

I would book a cruise at a reduced rate if my dining option is WJ + at least 1 other venue.

Yeah, but that is what it is now.  Think about it this way.  You go interior, do not beverages because you are happy with water, coffee and lemonade.  You don't buy Voom because you want to go unplugged.  Your only dining option would be WJ and the MDR included in your sailing.    I just basically gave you the bare bones cruise that they offer now.

So, except for no housekeeping how could they reduce the bottom rate even lower? 

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Even with no added incentive I often opt out of housekeeping every other day in a hotel.   I just don’t make that much mess.  I don’t have daily housekeeping at home and don’t need it in a hotel.   I also reuse towels because it is a small way to help the environment.    As to windjammer only, no thank you.   I enjoy sit down meals.  

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I don't mind the WJ for breakfast or lunch, but dinner I want to sit down and relax with a glass of wine.  Dinner taking 90 mins has never been an issue for me.  On this cruise we are traveling with my SIL, she is anti-buffet, so every meal will be in the MDR or specialty restaurants.  She is like you @WAAAYTOOO if I told her buffet only it would be a no go for her. 

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A. It’s a vacation.... me do the cleaning?!  Heck, I don’t do major versions of “housekeeping”in my own home, def not going to do it on a break.??

B. If I made to eat any meal at WJ then I will find a new way to vacation; to me most of the food is exactly like the food found in the chain buffet restaurants ? (refer to the postings from @Fuzzywuzzy @Pima1988 and @WAAAYTOOO for additional details on this). 

 Once when cruising with my husband and my sister, they both decided that they needed a nap late in the afternoon ? The short version of the end of the story is that we were so late getting to dinner that our only option for a meal was the WJ; I promise you that they will NEVER forget just how bad an idea that it is to force me to eat at the WJ ??‍♀️??

 

Re Cruise Lines - we have found NCL to be a great line, but that is also sailing in the Haven (although even in the Haven we hated Epic). So our experiences on RCCL and NCL have been very comparable in like cabins. Carnival I sailed on once during grad school - we were in the top suite on the ship and it was the size of an RCCL grand suite with almost zero perks; we didn’t return. The last time I was on most of the others (like Princess and Holland America it was so long ago it’s hard to use those cruises as comparisons).  @tiny260  What did you find unpleasant about the non-Haven NCL crusies?

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