ScottD Posted October 13, 2023 Report Share Posted October 13, 2023 Honestly, I've looked at Carnival cruises and almost none of them are cheaper than Royal cruises are...at least out of NY\NJ. I was willing to give them a shot if I got a good deal, but so far MSC is the only one I've found at much lower price than RC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brdjnr Posted October 13, 2023 Report Share Posted October 13, 2023 I just checked pricing on an 8 day Southern Caribbean on Adventure in a JS that I booked February of this year. The price has doubled. I know it being a JS changes things a bit, but goodness. This is the free market. When the market will bear it, it will be done. I booked 5 cruises in pretty rapid succession over a few months end of 2022 and first of 2023. The second of them is Mariner in a couple of weeks. The August Mariner cruise was amazing, I saw none of the issues many have reported. The pricing on all of them is/was great to ok. We started cruising RC later. I had a plan mapped out to reach Diamond (some will think that absurd, I'm a mark for status programs) in 2027 before our 35th anniversary trip. I think RC is getting ready to kneecap that so its no longer a deal. They are pricing me out though. I have enough airline miles socked away that the wife and I can fly pretty much anywhere. I have hotel points for rooms. We love cruising but at some point will sit it out a while and see what happens with pricing. ChessE4, USFFrank and Neesa 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg R Posted October 15, 2023 Report Share Posted October 15, 2023 On 10/12/2023 at 9:01 AM, OCSC Mike said: It’s a big deal to me. PC is an hour drive for me. The South Florida ports are 3-4 hours (and an awful drive from what I’ve been told). I refuse to make that drive. I greatly value the convenience of PC. Others don’t mind the drive, which is fine too. We all value things differently. I say try the train for a cruise out of the south. Then let me know how it went. I'm thinking of doing that in the fututer. RCIfan1912 and OCSC Mike 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCSC Mike Posted October 15, 2023 Report Share Posted October 15, 2023 2 minutes ago, Greg R said: I say try the train for a cruise out of the south. Then let me know how it went. I'm thinking of doing that in the fututer. Not a shot. There’s a reason I have 4 Wonder cruises booked. I do love that ship but that’s not the reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeronicaS1970 Posted October 15, 2023 Report Share Posted October 15, 2023 We booked our first MSC cruise for next October on Meraviglia out of NYC. Aurea balcony, I did consider yacht club as well, it was only a few hundred more, but for an inside. 3k for the cabin, free drinks and wifi ( easy plus drinks fine for us, we will upgrade to browse and stream onboard), gratuities and round trip transportation to/ from Brooklyn. Same week on Symphony identical itinerary, 3k only gets me a window. No drinks ( though we are D+ so I don't buy a package) but no internet or gratuities. And I still have to pay to park at Bayonne. We are at 219 points, pinnacle is nothin but a dream. So since there really isn't a huge increase in benefits until I reach 340, we are trying other cruise lines. We did a Celebrity this spring, are doing MSC next fall and are planning to try Virgin in 2025. We love Royal, but if I want to keep cruising 3 times a year, then I will look for what works best for us financially. I do however draw the line at Carnival. Xaa, tingtang, Pattycruise and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted October 15, 2023 Report Share Posted October 15, 2023 On 10/13/2023 at 2:49 PM, brdjnr said: I just checked pricing on an 8 day Southern Caribbean on Adventure in a JS that I booked February of this year. The price has doubled. I know it being a JS changes things a bit, but goodness. This is the free market. When the market will bear it, it will be done. I booked 5 cruises in pretty rapid succession over a few months end of 2022 and first of 2023. The second of them is Mariner in a couple of weeks. The August Mariner cruise was amazing, I saw none of the issues many have reported. The pricing on all of them is/was great to ok. We started cruising RC later. I had a plan mapped out to reach Diamond (some will think that absurd, I'm a mark for status programs) in 2027 before our 35th anniversary trip. I think RC is getting ready to kneecap that so its no longer a deal. They are pricing me out though. I have enough airline miles socked away that the wife and I can fly pretty much anywhere. I have hotel points for rooms. We love cruising but at some point will sit it out a while and see what happens with pricing. Check out Alaska. You may find some bargains there! However, the excursions will kill your wallet…. RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted October 15, 2023 Report Share Posted October 15, 2023 On 10/13/2023 at 7:49 AM, brdjnr said: I just checked pricing on an 8 day Southern Caribbean on Adventure in a JS that I booked February of this year. Adventure had some amazingly good deals for 2024 when that last schedule extension came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonL Posted October 15, 2023 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2023 On 10/12/2023 at 7:55 AM, Matt said: The other component to this conversation is what constitutes a "good price" or "deal". I'm certain we all have different definitions and expectations for what that looks like. Or as once was famously said, "I know it when I see it…" Agreed. I'm talking apples to apples of my standard booking strategy. Looks to me about 30-40% higher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCIfan1912 Posted October 15, 2023 Report Share Posted October 15, 2023 12 minutes ago, Pattycruise said: Check out Alaska. You may find some bargains there! However, the excursions will kill your wallet…. I don't regular check out Alaska cruises but when I do I'm floored by how expensive excursions are. Pattycruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted October 16, 2023 Report Share Posted October 16, 2023 14 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said: I don't regular check out Alaska cruises but when I do I'm floored by how expensive excursions are. In the Caribbean you can book excursions through 3rd parties and save money. In Alaska, what you pay 3rd party isn't any cheaper than what you pay through RC. RCIfan1912 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brdjnr Posted October 16, 2023 Report Share Posted October 16, 2023 25 minutes ago, Pattycruise said: Check out Alaska. You may find some bargains there! However, the excursions will kill your wallet…. We are saving Alaska for that 35th anniversary. We went there on our 25th on Celebrity and it was the best trip we've ever done. Pattycruise and RCIfan1912 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid4c4 Posted October 16, 2023 Report Share Posted October 16, 2023 I agree with the original poster that cruise prices have gotten very high when compared to just last year. RCCL's price point is about as high as it can go. However supply and demand economics is working well for RCCL their cruise fares seem high but their ships are sailing full so why would they want to drop the prices? I have started comparing cruise fare prices with other lines for the first time in 30 years. The prices for any of the new ships like Wonder or Icon are almost equal to Viking and in some cases Silver Seas. I don't want to leave RCCL but they may leave me. Bill USFFrank, RCIfan1912 and WAAAYTOOO 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChessE4 Posted October 16, 2023 Report Share Posted October 16, 2023 I just checked our 24 and 25 cruises booked months ago at schedule release, and they are about 15 to 20% percent higher. I don't think that is outrageous, but these are smaller ships at Baltimore and New Orleans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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