Not only have cruise prices gone too expensive, and out of reach of many people, you're also getting less for your money as the cruise lines try to nickel and dime their customers.
It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't bragging about record breaking profits. I didn't mind paying more because inflation is a thing. I do mind paying more, getting less, and the cruise line bragging they really didn't need to raise prices but they can so they did.
the size of allure of the seas was fine. Its that these great big ships dont go anywhere but Nassau and one trip there is enough. coco cay was great but again only want to go there so many times.
I've taken over 20 cruises and rising cruise prices with lower levels of service such as no evening turn over, smaller menus, etc. are making land vacations more attractive than cruises.
Land vacations unless you go to crappy resorts are very expensive. Used to go to Dominican Republic, good decent resorts are over 200 per person a day, flights are expensive (no flying Frontier) and you're stuck in one area.
Agreed I`m a solo cruiser I recently priced 2 cruises up and was quoted exactly the same price as double occupancy ie i was paying for the invisible non existent person who shared my cabin !!!
2024 is going to be the last year my family cruises for a while. It used to be the cheapest option to get away for the weekend but they just made it so expensive now that it's cheaper for me to take a trip to Japan over the weekend than cruise.
In reading a lot of the comments over some time, seems like most cruisers do not want the mega ships. I think the curiousity factor is gone; now people just want quiet and affordability. But this is just my opinion.
Just got off the Wonder of the Seas. WAY too many kids, despite the large size of the ship because the pools are not big enough and frankly, the water looked gross with so many crowded in a pool. Yuch! Going back to Celebrity and HA
I see you point but I have been on worse lines in those 2500-3000 pax ships then I have on the 6000+ ships It all depends on when the ship was built. Except for Sun Princess they just blew it in the planning process of that ship.
Nickel and dining customers began when they figured they could charge you more for specialty dining, the same dining that was the norm in the MDR's in the 90's and early 2000's.
This winter is the first time in over 30+ years that we are not going on a cruise. Issues for us are cutbacks on the quality of food & services. Hotel costs & flights are ridiculous. Also the worry of cancellations & delays of flights & itinerary changes of cruises. Hopefully things will improve at some point.
We like to pick our cruise based on the itinerary. We have noticed that you do not get as many ports of call on a cruise and the prices have gotten way to expensive. Because of that, we do not go as often as we used to.
Yes, indeed, Don, we are getting to the point where the cruising market has priced themselves out of their own market compared to flying to a resort somewhere all inclusive instead of the nickel and diamond that’s being done on cruise ships. That of course, is at both ends from all the stuff that’s taken away that used to be free to specialty dining that has gone up 50 to 100% especially the short excursions so if I do the numbers and calculate the math that all inclusive resort is starting to look pretty cheap now. Not to mention the selection of cruise, especially in the main dining room, which is in most cases the same food that’s at the buffet, especially on Carnival Cruise Line.
You are absolutely right; cruising is too costly. Also, the airline cost is just crazy, and my wife and I recently cancelled a cruise due to the high costs. We usually do about three cruised per year, but are now planning on two annually, plus closer to home with lower airline costs.
We've cut back on our cruising from one cruise a year to one every 18-24 months. I seriously doubt there will be much in the way of price drops. Once companies realize people will pay any price for their product or service they have little incentive to lower them.
We’ll follow through with the two cruises we already have booked for 2025 but given the decline in the Canadian dollar, we won’t be booking anything else. We’ll consider vacations within Canada for a bit instead.
The surge of cruise pricing has actually opened my eyes to other lines, and I was able to discover MSC Yacht Club experiences that are less expensive than an inside guarantee cabin on Royal Caribbeans newest ships!!
More mega ships means massive numbers of cabins to be filled. We’ve got to be at or near the tipping point in the US market where there are more rooms than can realistically be filled on a regular basis. With more mega ships on the way, we should be solidly on the downslope of the supply demand curve for a while.
I've already implemented some of these changes like staying in inside cabins more and skipping the drink and dining packages. There was a time where I'd typically always get a balcony with a drink and dining package but the value isn't there anymore. I was also once a loyal Royal but they've really upped their pricing
I put my shorts over the chair back (It’s close to the sliding door) never had a problem. They should crack down on smoking VS drying a bathing suit. Also I’ve noticed our cruise fare has dropped several times since we booked. NE state, No surprise.
As much as I love cruising I have to look for another option for a vacation as the prices are just in the stratosphere now. In the past I always found a good deal in the less busy season. Not any more. And it`s pretty frustrating when you see "50% off" (from what?) and they write a really ridiculous price above, cross it and give a double price than it used to be below. And serve it like it was a fantastic, unmissable deal. They think we are stupid... I understand everything getting more expensive, that`s the way it is...but there is a limit.
Cruise lines are destroying the cruise vacation experience with prices and the removal of many of the things that drew loyal cruisers. Couple that with the hastle of arriving a day early, changes in port visits, being stuck on a sick ship, etc. Who in their right mind wants that.
I think they’re doing this on purpose. It costs more to have return cruisers with loyalty advantages than a brand new to cruising guest who just accepts what they’re given!
That might be correct. Instead, the lines attract young cruisers with lots of kids and pack the cabins full with limited supervision in public areas. The lines continue to attract obese cruisers with scooters who are always at the food trough stuffing. This element may be costing the lines more than the diminished loyalty award.
@@williamwatson689 Whoa. Easy on the fat shaming please. I was talking about the quality of the food. Those of us not new to cruising know how good the food used to be, how good the service used to be, and new cruisers have no idea what is missing.
I was recently on the Carnival Frienza and noticed a clothes line in the shower to hang wet clothes. I thought it was unusual for a new ship but thinking about it, it now makes sense.
Agree about not hanging clothes on balconies, but things take forever to dry on those little lines in the bathroom. If there's a self-serve laundry, try taking the wet things to the laundry dryers.
I loved the Allure RCCL! Very large but great service. The Central Park was uncrowded and quiet. The Mama Mia show was awesome. Plenty of room, privacy areas, fun slides, rock climbing and mini golf. We are 56 and my family loves both sizes. Prices have matched all inclusive sadly.
We probably won’t cruise again with the skyrocketing prices and service is declining. I would rather just go somewhereI haven’t been in the United States. There are so many beautiful places to visit right here in the good old US.
Recommend Economics 101 topic market forces in natural monopoliez. Fewer ships means prices go up to recover lost revenue, more ships means pruces go up to oay off construction costs. Both to keep stockholder dividends at projected values.
Borrowing money for any vacation is not the best money management. When we cruise it is paid off before we sail except for onboard expenses which are minimal.
I hope prices are coming down. We spend a fair amount on travel and we don’t have any cruises booked and as of now we are taking leisurely road trips and enjoying it ! Things just got crazy price wise. Hopefully there will be a little correction in $$$!
Cruising is my favorite vacations but with the price increases that have happened in the last couple of years I have been forced to not cruise. I only have one more scheduled and I am in an inside cabin for the price I’ve previously had balconies. Nope, last time l’ll ever do that again! Sooooo I hope the prices go back down!!
Fantastic series! Scenery is spectacular and your videos always have something quirky, but most enjoyable. Thank you Alicja for filming at the desert/volcano so Steve could drive safely. What’s next??? Safe travels. Cheers 🫶
I live in Australia and prices are huge. We don't have a tipping society, so tipping is included for cruises leaving Australia on Princess with no choice to remove. We used to cruise on Princess for about A$200-250 per day for a balcony. Latest cost is $400 plus, and that doesn't include a drinks package. 😢
Hi Don. Please ignore my message as it obviously was for another blogger. If you can, catch up with a fellow named Steve March from Scotland. Great videos on wonderful trips and walk-abouts. Take care. Safe sailing.
The lower growth percentages are probably attributable to the ships selling near full. Hard to add to what is not there to book. Hence, the flurry of newbuilds.
Talking about prices going down I posted this on a few of your other videos. It’s called the Disney effect. Before and after Covid Disney increase the prices exponentially and people still kept coming. After the amount of one time people coming from international places started to cool down the attendance started to cool down and they didn’t quite reduce prices but they gave back big benefits where food is included. You got free days stuff like that. So once people stop going on a cruise ship at its current price like another poster said within the next five years, it will start going down and prices will start going down.
I was going to stay that I have never heard of Belfast, Maine being a cruise stop (or at all). Agree, if they only have 14 ship stops, why bother stopping them from coming.
We still find value with cruising compared to other travel. Of course we balance price, itinerary and ship to find the best value. We also factor in cabin type and have recently sailed from an inside cabin to a grand suite. Also, like others have said. Strong magnetic hooks are a must for organizations including drying clothes. Thanks Don for the great content! Our channel learns from you and others who have paved the way!!
As Covid was coming to an end I was doing a cruise a month because they were so cheap. I know that was an extreme but now being on a retirement budget I’m cruising once a year.
Our travel agent is supposed to be finding us a 10 day cruse to Jamaca.It will probably be my last cruise because I have to save a whole year to be able to go on a cruise plus I'm 79 yrs old.with prices the way they are my social security is stretched so thin,I pray it doesn't break.
We just came off of a cruise and everything is more expensive. Cruising was affordable and a great value, but today it ever more expensive. We want the lines to pay off the debts they took on, but we think now its about gouging us. We have one more in December this year... after that we are not gonna cruise for a while.
We have seen clothes hung on the balconies. We have also seen towels and bathing suits on the ground as we got back to our ship. We hope prices do go down soon. We have one booked this year and one booked next year, id like to book another for next year. But the prices right now are rediculus.
Royal Caribbean’s investors conference details said the shoulder season was a stellar booking period. Also, Celebrity will enter the European River Cruise Market :( I’d rather see other areas, the competition is already fierce. Love to see Great Lakes, Australia, Whitby Island
I feel like people turn to cruising because of hotel fees and even rental cars. By the time I calculated a week at a hotel with all those junk fees plus rental car. Not to mention high price of eating out we just booked a cruise. We will book more land vacations once those prices go down.
Try Airbnb instead of hotels. I was at my first Airbnb last year it was great cook your own meals so no going out to eat. Just read reviews like you would hotels. Only time I ate out was lunch because I was out and about.
I love cruising and would love to develop a lifestyle where the majority of my year is on ships. Pre Covid, I was cruising longer cruises (at least 14 days), 6 or 7 times a year. Viscous price increases,a hardening of the solo supplement, savage increases in daily gratuities, locking solo passengers out of affordable classes & a significant drop in quality & service meant I cruised twice last year. Cruise lines clearly discourage solo travellers. If you still go- you will pay and pay again!-even to double port fees and up to 500% more than twin share passengers on some cruises. Loyalty rewards are constantly being eroded to the point where a 1st timer can get more benefits than someone on top level loyalty.At some point,other cruisers will feel discouraged & disenfranchised & cruise less. Wake up cruise lines or your short term profit will become long term pain.
Between so many US companies starting to lay people off and the promise that prices on goods are going sky high this year, I'm sure it will affect the cruise industry here.
Best kept "secret" in the cruising industry: EVERY bathroom has "constantly working" DEHUMIDIFIER(s) on the ceiling of EVERY bathroom (usually above the shower, near the string that one sets up to hang things (no coincidence there). Yeap.... it's a 4" diameter "doo Gigee" that forever is drawing air/humidity, so anything hung nearest to this most likely dry faster than layed out anywhere else! (who knew?!?!?!?)
With more Ports starting to charge fees, and cruise lines saying they will not be stopping there anymore, cruisers need to unite and stop cruising because cruise lines just keep increasing fees and cutting services. Cutting back on cruises for sure, until inflation and the economy gets better.
Nope, cruise sales and profits are going through the roof. I can see my cruise days are probably numbered as prices increase and I retire in a few years. I have taken a number of wonderful cruises and will treasure my memories, photos and videos.
We’re about to go on Celebrity Wonder Of The Seas February and we cut back on the outrageous $1900 drink package. There’s a point when you say you have value but unfortunately there’s no value in $1900 for two people for a drink package. And as our Canadian dollar is taking a hard hit it even looks worse for us. But that’s OK we’ll enjoy everything else on that ship I’m looking forward to going by cruise lines if you want to keep charging us we will not bite
I priced a princess cruise and the same cruise on Oceania. Princess cost more to make it all inclusive without excursions or airfare than Oceania which was much more inclusive.
The reason why I won’t cruise 🚢 right now is because of the prices Don they are absolutely ridiculous now if this is true that the prices on cruise ships drop than maybe I will consider booking my first cruise holding on to that little bit of hope fingers crossed 🤞🏻
I wanted to do a cruise on RCL. But even with a 60 percent off for a second person sale. A balcony for a week priced out at 4200 dollars. Higher prices and reduced service doesn’t add up to me. I’m doing a land vacation instead. Maybe I’ll try again next year.
Land is better. You drive your own car to wherever you’re going if you got the time so no plane fare. Plus you don’t have to rush. Cruises you got 5-7 hours in a port. You gotta hurry up on and off the tour buses. Not enough time to see everything. Plus look at all the places in the USA you’ve not seeing from a cruise ship. Lots of National Parks, Niagara Falls, lots of caves to explore, lots of cities and not the big ones either. Just use google you’ll find them.
What's going to happen is the cruise bubble is going to pop. As you mentioned there are a lot more ships today than there ever has been. Then take in account how big those newer ships are, that's a lot of cabins! Now toss in all the cut backs in services, more up sells, ports limiting ships, a lot of people are just going to do something else for vacation. Then they will sell off the smaller older ships, driving off more people. What will you have left in another 3 or 4 years? Floating amusement parks, going to private islands and maybe a handful of ports in the Americas, that will mostly be booze cruises. Maybe a couple of cruise ships in Europe. Which will only leave Asia for cruising.
Most cruises are just floating nursing homes anyway. My last cruise when I had to stand in a long long custom/immigration line that did not move one inch for hours because suddenly everyone that could walk just fine to the buffet and dance the night away in the clubs...suddenly are "disabled" and "need" a wheelchair cuz they do not want to stand in line like the rest of us. JUST when I thought maybe we could start to move. here comes another herd of wheelchairs to butt in and go right to the front of the line. That is when the group I was with all said...OK this is our last cruise. More than 3 hours in line....done with cruising.
The cruise business has to slow down as prices have gotten expensive and ships providing less services.b. Plus the mega ships are have way too many passengers.
A large percentage of cruisers since the restart are using credit cards to pay for their vacation and between that and inflation in general the big balloon is about to pop. As travel agents we certainly saw that especially in the last two years.
Not only have cruise prices gone too expensive, and out of reach of many people, you're also getting less for your money as the cruise lines try to nickel and dime their customers.
They sure do. Even for water ... unreal.
Exactly 💯👏🏻
Yes. Im over it and quit sailing
It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't bragging about record breaking profits. I didn't mind paying more because inflation is a thing. I do mind paying more, getting less, and the cruise line bragging they really didn't need to raise prices but they can so they did.
Prices skyrocketed and quality plummeted.
It's cost effective for those who can drive to a port. If you add an international flight, hotel room and meals, it becomes unaffordable
Plus Canadian dollars. All inclusive much more for your dollar.
That’s not a lot of people who live within 2 hours of a port. Besides international flights even if you live outside of the coast lines you gotta fly.
the size of allure of the seas was fine. Its that these great big ships dont go anywhere but Nassau and one trip there is enough. coco cay was great but again only want to go there so many times.
I've taken over 20 cruises and rising cruise prices with lower levels of service such as no evening turn over, smaller menus, etc. are making land vacations more attractive than cruises.
Same!
Land vacations unless you go to crappy resorts are very expensive. Used to go to Dominican Republic, good decent resorts are over 200 per person a day, flights are expensive (no flying Frontier) and you're stuck in one area.
Drink prices and Gratuities are Killing us.
@@FelixTorres-wl5vtTry staying in major US and Canadian cities for under $200 per night. That is more than I have paid on the last five cruises ...
I agree not as affordable anymore. Gratuities as much as 4day cruise. Ridiculous😮
I for one as a Solo cruiser would enjoy seeing cruising go down some. Its crazy all the fee's cruisers are hit with.
Agreed I`m a solo cruiser I recently priced 2 cruises up and was quoted exactly the same price as double occupancy ie i was paying for the invisible non existent person who shared my cabin !!!
They rip off solo cruisers. It’s ridiculous. Paying double or more than double of everybody else.
Hopefully prices do go down.🙏🏼
2024 is going to be the last year my family cruises for a while. It used to be the cheapest option to get away for the weekend but they just made it so expensive now that it's cheaper for me to take a trip to Japan over the weekend than cruise.
Congratulations, Don. I see you have reached the 200K mark. Nice!
In reading a lot of the comments over some time, seems like most cruisers do not want the mega ships. I think the curiousity factor is gone; now people just want quiet and affordability. But this is just my opinion.
Agree. Not interested at all in anything over 4000, which is a lot. That’s still pushing it. We loved the smaller ships!
@@franka4854we like less than 3000 passengers.
Which why we're sticking to HAL
My wife and I recently went on the Carnival Jubilee, I think it was ok, I don’t think we’ll do it again. Too big for us.
Just got off the Wonder of the Seas. WAY too many kids, despite the large size of the ship because the pools are not big enough and frankly, the water looked gross with so many crowded in a pool. Yuch! Going back to Celebrity and HA
Hopefully with the drop in demand cruising can go back closer to its former level of customer service.
I like the more medium size ships-2500 to 3000 passengers. No way will I cruise on a 6-7000 pax ship
I see you point but I have been on worse lines in those 2500-3000 pax ships then I have on the 6000+ ships It all depends on when the ship was built. Except for Sun Princess they just blew it in the planning process of that ship.
Nickel and dining customers began when they figured they could charge you more for specialty dining, the same dining that was the norm in the MDR's in the 90's and early 2000's.
Yep!!
Even the specialty restaurants aren’t as good as they used to be!
This winter is the first time in over 30+ years that we are not going on a cruise. Issues for us are cutbacks on the quality of food & services. Hotel costs & flights are ridiculous. Also the worry of cancellations & delays of flights & itinerary changes of cruises. Hopefully things will improve at some point.
The best way we've found to hang clothes to dry is magnetic hooks in the cabin. The cabin walls are metal. We never cruise without magnets.
Clothes never dry in the bathroom, even when the door is propped open.
Yeah, they stay wet, i agree.
We like to pick our cruise based on the itinerary. We have noticed that you do not get as many ports of call on a cruise and the prices have gotten way to expensive.
Because of that, we do not go as often as we used to.
I’m hoping the prices goes down. We’re Retired and ❤cruising. Instead of several a year we only go once a year.
Yes, indeed, Don, we are getting to the point where the cruising market has priced themselves out of their own market compared to flying to a resort somewhere all inclusive instead of the nickel and diamond that’s being done on cruise ships. That of course, is at both ends from all the stuff that’s taken away that used to be free to specialty dining that has gone up 50 to 100% especially the short excursions so if I do the numbers and calculate the math that all inclusive resort is starting to look pretty cheap now. Not to mention the selection of cruise, especially in the main dining room, which is in most cases the same food that’s at the buffet, especially on Carnival Cruise Line.
Haha Nickle and Diamond, I hope that was intentional and not autocorrect because that is Gold.
You are absolutely right; cruising is too costly. Also, the airline cost is just crazy, and my wife and I recently cancelled a cruise due to the high costs. We usually do about three cruised per year, but are now planning on two annually, plus closer to home with lower airline costs.
The biggest issue is value.. like paying for fine dining and get subpar food and service..
We've cut back on our cruising from one cruise a year to one every 18-24 months. I seriously doubt there will be much in the way of price drops. Once companies realize people will pay any price for their product or service they have little incentive to lower them.
I go about once every four years. I like cruising but I love being on a land vacation
We’ll follow through with the two cruises we already have booked for 2025 but given the decline in the Canadian dollar, we won’t be booking anything else. We’ll consider vacations within Canada for a bit instead.
The surge of cruise pricing has actually opened my eyes to other lines, and I was able to discover MSC Yacht Club experiences that are less expensive than an inside guarantee cabin on Royal Caribbeans newest ships!!
One can only dream of prices dropping😂😂😂
More mega ships means massive numbers of cabins to be filled. We’ve got to be at or near the tipping point in the US market where there are more rooms than can realistically be filled on a regular basis. With more mega ships on the way, we should be solidly on the downslope of the supply demand curve for a while.
As a fellow Canadian, I'm tariff frightened and what it will mean to Canada. I've cancelled my Alaska cruise :(
I would love to see some of the monstrosities of the sea sale at 1/3 capacity. What a wake up call!!!!!!!!
YES...!!!
I've already implemented some of these changes like staying in inside cabins more and skipping the drink and dining packages. There was a time where I'd typically always get a balcony with a drink and dining package but the value isn't there anymore. I was also once a loyal Royal but they've really upped their pricing
some of the cost that has slowed us cruising is the cost of air fare to get to the cruise port. That might also effect things
I put my shorts over the chair back (It’s close to the sliding door) never had a problem. They should crack down on smoking VS drying a bathing suit. Also I’ve noticed our cruise fare has dropped several times since we booked. NE state, No surprise.
the problem with the clothesline in the shower is that clothes rarely dry. went swimming one day and the bathing suits were still wet 2 days later.
When we left swimsuits on the balcony, they were tied down.
My point exactly! They don’t dry in the bathroom. I’ve tried everything!
I hope prices go down because i love balcony cabins but my last 2 cruises have been inside cabins for the price.
As much as I love cruising I have to look for another option for a vacation as the prices are just in the stratosphere now. In the past I always found a good deal in the less busy season. Not any more. And it`s pretty frustrating when you see "50% off" (from what?) and they write a really ridiculous price above, cross it and give a double price than it used to be below. And serve it like it was a fantastic, unmissable deal. They think we are stupid... I understand everything getting more expensive, that`s the way it is...but there is a limit.
Cruise lines are destroying the cruise vacation experience with prices and the removal of many of the things that drew loyal cruisers. Couple that with the hastle of arriving a day early, changes in port visits, being stuck on a sick ship, etc. Who in their right mind wants that.
I think they’re doing this on purpose. It costs more to have return cruisers with loyalty advantages than a brand new to cruising guest who just accepts what they’re given!
That might be correct. Instead, the lines attract young cruisers with lots of kids and pack the cabins full with limited supervision in public areas. The lines continue to attract obese cruisers with scooters who are always at the food trough stuffing. This element may be costing the lines more than the diminished loyalty award.
@@williamwatson689 Whoa. Easy on the fat shaming please. I was talking about the quality of the food. Those of us not new to cruising know how good the food used to be, how good the service used to be, and new cruisers have no idea what is missing.
Another hassle, flight costs and schedules are ridiculous!
Restaurant prices are up too though.
Cruising in Australia has risen by 50%. For what you get, it's just not the value for money it used to be!
Am on Harmony, each time we walk past Next cruise it’s empty, we aren’t booking anything either
There's a lot of sea salt and humidity on the balconies. I have magnetic hooks to dry things inside my cabin, and it's much better.
Towels clips...buy them people. They gold stuff onto your chairs on your balcony and the pool deck
I was recently on the Carnival Frienza and noticed a clothes line in the shower to hang wet clothes. I thought it was unusual for a new ship but thinking about it, it now makes sense.
Agree about not hanging clothes on balconies, but things take forever to dry on those little lines in the bathroom. If there's a self-serve laundry, try taking the wet things to the laundry dryers.
I loved the Allure RCCL! Very large but great service. The Central Park was uncrowded and quiet. The Mama Mia show was awesome. Plenty of room, privacy areas, fun slides, rock climbing and mini golf. We are 56 and my family loves both sizes. Prices have matched all inclusive sadly.
after being on the Sun Princess I now know I prefer the smaller ships. My favorites are probably the Coral, the Royal and the Discovery in that order
We probably won’t cruise again with the skyrocketing prices and service is declining. I would rather just go somewhereI haven’t been in the United States. There are so many beautiful places to visit right here in the good old US.
Recommend Economics 101 topic market forces in natural monopoliez. Fewer ships means prices go up to recover lost revenue, more ships means pruces go up to oay off construction costs. Both to keep stockholder dividends at projected values.
You can only borrow for so long for vacations. Prices need to come down 😮
Borrowing money for any vacation is not the best money management. When we cruise it is paid off before we sail except for onboard expenses which are minimal.
@ I fear a lot of people don’t practice your philosophy 🤔
((laughing)) May, it's all about money. Money, money, and more money.
Borrow?? For a vacation?? Oh nooooo...
Exactly, if you have to borrow to go on a vacation then you don’t go, do one that you can afford.
I hope prices are coming down. We spend a fair amount on travel and we don’t have any cruises booked and as of now we are taking leisurely road trips and enjoying it ! Things just got crazy price wise. Hopefully there will be a little correction in $$$!
Unless our CAD gets stronger our cruise this Spring will be our last for quite a while. We will vacation but stay in Canada.
thanks you Don for your update. 🇯🇲
Hi Don, was going to cruise with you but now that prices might drop, I will wait. Thank you
It's a all inclusive for us this year😊😊😊
Hi Don, The cruise lines are pricing them selves out of business. Getting to expensive for the average family.
Cruising is my favorite vacations but with the price increases that have happened in the last couple of years I have been forced to not cruise. I only have one more scheduled and I am in an inside cabin for the price I’ve previously had balconies. Nope, last time l’ll ever do that again! Sooooo I hope the prices go back down!!
50 people. The ferry that crosses the river in my hometown have capacity of 75 people. And it travels like 100 meters...
Hey Don. Thanks for the cruise update. Hope you have a wonderful day. 😊
I couldn't believe it once when we were in port and saw a double washing line full of clothes out on a balcony.
Fantastic series! Scenery is spectacular and your videos always have something quirky, but most enjoyable. Thank you Alicja for filming at the desert/volcano so Steve could drive safely. What’s next??? Safe travels. Cheers 🫶
@@bethlowell7336 pretty sure you meant to post on Steve Marsh’s channel 🤭
@@MultiCorker yes I did. Thanks for catching that. Cheers
Too much nickel.and diming.... the vacation backlog post covid will come down and hopefully so will prices...
I live in Australia and prices are huge. We don't have a tipping society, so tipping is included for cruises leaving Australia on Princess with no choice to remove. We used to cruise on Princess for about A$200-250 per day for a balcony. Latest cost is $400 plus, and that doesn't include a drinks package. 😢
Hi Don. Please ignore my message as it obviously was for another blogger. If you can, catch up with a fellow named Steve March from Scotland. Great videos on wonderful trips and walk-abouts. Take care. Safe sailing.
The lower growth percentages are probably attributable to the ships selling near full. Hard to add to what is not there to book. Hence, the flurry of newbuilds.
Talking about prices going down I posted this on a few of your other videos. It’s called the Disney effect. Before and after Covid Disney increase the prices exponentially and people still kept coming. After the amount of one time people coming from international places started to cool down the attendance started to cool down and they didn’t quite reduce prices but they gave back big benefits where food is included. You got free days stuff like that. So once people stop going on a cruise ship at its current price like another poster said within the next five years, it will start going down and prices will start going down.
I was going to stay that I have never heard of Belfast, Maine being a cruise stop (or at all). Agree, if they only have 14 ship stops, why bother stopping them from coming.
I have one more cruise to Panama in February and if the prices don't drop then I will be cutting way back on cruising.
Thanks for your information and I hope you're feeling better and you're getting your cancer spots under control
Thank you for the reminders on balcony does and don't s,it is so simple..
We still find value with cruising compared to other travel. Of course we balance price, itinerary and ship to find the best value. We also factor in cabin type and have recently sailed from an inside cabin to a grand suite. Also, like others have said. Strong magnetic hooks are a must for organizations including drying clothes. Thanks Don for the great content! Our channel learns from you and others who have paved the way!!
As Covid was coming to an end I was doing a cruise a month because they were so cheap. I know that was an extreme but now being on a retirement budget I’m cruising once a year.
Our travel agent is supposed to be finding us a 10 day cruse to Jamaca.It will probably be my last cruise because I have to save a whole year to be able to go on a cruise plus I'm 79 yrs old.with prices the way they are my social security is stretched so thin,I pray it doesn't break.
Prices should come down due to high recent increases and increased competition! About time.
I’m on a Royal Caribbean cruise today and it’s completely full capacity
Keep up the good work!
Greed kills all business 😢
We just came off of a cruise and everything is more expensive. Cruising was affordable and a great value, but today it ever more expensive. We want the lines to pay off the debts they took on, but we think now its about gouging us. We have one more in December this year... after that we are not gonna cruise for a while.
We have seen clothes hung on the balconies. We have also seen towels and bathing suits on the ground as we got back to our ship. We hope prices do go down soon. We have one booked this year and one booked next year, id like to book another for next year. But the prices right now are rediculus.
200k! Wow, Don! Congratulations!
Royal Caribbean’s investors conference details said the shoulder season was a stellar booking period.
Also, Celebrity will enter the European River Cruise Market :( I’d rather see other areas, the competition is already fierce. Love to see Great Lakes, Australia, Whitby Island
Not sure if The Cat ferry stopped in Belfast, but the ferry will not be able to stop there either
I feel like people turn to cruising because of hotel fees and even rental cars. By the
time I calculated a week at a hotel with all those junk fees plus rental car. Not to
mention high price of eating out we just booked a cruise. We will book more land
vacations once those prices go down.
Try Airbnb instead of hotels. I was at my first Airbnb last year it was great cook your own meals so no going out to eat.
Just read reviews like you would hotels.
Only time I ate out was lunch because I was out and about.
I love cruising and would love to develop a lifestyle where the majority of my year is on ships. Pre Covid, I was cruising longer cruises (at least 14 days), 6 or 7 times a year. Viscous price increases,a hardening of the solo supplement, savage increases in daily gratuities, locking solo passengers out of affordable classes & a significant drop in quality & service meant I cruised twice last year. Cruise lines clearly discourage solo travellers. If you still go- you will pay and pay again!-even to double port fees and up to 500% more than twin share passengers on some cruises. Loyalty rewards are constantly being eroded to the point where a 1st timer can get more benefits than someone on top level loyalty.At some point,other cruisers will feel discouraged & disenfranchised & cruise less. Wake up cruise lines or your short term profit will become long term pain.
I hope prices do drop. Usually cruise 2-3 times a year and have none booked this year.
Between so many US companies starting to lay people off and the promise that prices on goods are going sky high this year, I'm sure it will affect the cruise industry here.
Best kept "secret" in the cruising industry: EVERY bathroom has "constantly working" DEHUMIDIFIER(s) on the ceiling of EVERY bathroom (usually above the shower, near the string that one sets up to hang things (no coincidence there). Yeap.... it's a 4" diameter "doo Gigee" that forever is drawing air/humidity, so anything hung nearest to this most likely dry faster than layed out anywhere else! (who knew?!?!?!?)
With more Ports starting to charge fees, and cruise lines saying they will not be stopping there anymore, cruisers need to unite and stop cruising because cruise lines just keep increasing fees and cutting services. Cutting back on cruises for sure, until inflation and the economy gets better.
Nope, cruise sales and profits are going through the roof. I can see my cruise days are probably numbered as prices increase and I retire in a few years. I have taken a number of wonderful cruises and will treasure my memories, photos and videos.
I don’t think the prices will ever go down. It will take a lot more to make up for all the lost time.
I've been on Harmony, Allure, Adventure and Ovation none of them have had clothes line
Go to Rockland, Maine. It has a big ferry dock !
We’re about to go on Celebrity Wonder Of The Seas February and we cut back on the outrageous $1900 drink package. There’s a point when you say you have value but unfortunately there’s no value in $1900 for two people for a drink package. And as our Canadian dollar is taking a hard hit it even looks worse for us. But that’s OK we’ll enjoy everything else on that ship I’m looking forward to going by cruise lines if you want to keep charging us we will not bite
I loved Cruising. As a solo cruiser, I'm just about done. I've been on over 70 cruises. I found at this point I'd rather do a Beautiful Airbnb.
Its not just cruising.... for most people, they also have to add flights. And that has also gone up.
So cruising gets hit twice.
I priced a princess cruise and the same cruise on Oceania.
Princess cost more to make it all inclusive without excursions or airfare than Oceania which was much more inclusive.
The reason why I won’t cruise 🚢 right now is because of the prices Don they are absolutely ridiculous now if this is true that the prices on cruise ships drop than maybe I will consider booking my first cruise holding on to that little bit of hope fingers crossed 🤞🏻
I would love to see a drop in cruise prices, even if it’s temporary!!!! Thanks for sharing 😎🛳️🛳️
I wanted to do a cruise on RCL. But even with a 60 percent off for a second person sale. A balcony for a week priced out at 4200 dollars. Higher prices and reduced service doesn’t add up to me. I’m doing a land vacation instead. Maybe I’ll try again next year.
Land is better. You drive your own car to wherever you’re going if you got the time so no plane fare.
Plus you don’t have to rush. Cruises you got 5-7 hours in a port. You gotta hurry up on and off the tour buses. Not enough time to see everything.
Plus look at all the places in the USA you’ve not seeing from a cruise ship.
Lots of National Parks, Niagara Falls, lots of caves to explore, lots of cities and not the big ones either. Just use google you’ll find them.
We like the 110,000 ton and smaller Carnival ships!
What's going to happen is the cruise bubble is going to pop. As you mentioned there are a lot more ships today than there ever has been. Then take in account how big those newer ships are, that's a lot of cabins! Now toss in all the cut backs in services, more up sells, ports limiting ships, a lot of people are just going to do something else for vacation. Then they will sell off the smaller older ships, driving off more people.
What will you have left in another 3 or 4 years? Floating amusement parks, going to private islands and maybe a handful of ports in the Americas, that will mostly be booze cruises. Maybe a couple of cruise ships in Europe. Which will only leave Asia for cruising.
Most cruises are just floating nursing homes anyway. My last cruise when I had to stand in a long long custom/immigration line that did not move one inch for hours because suddenly everyone that could walk just fine to the buffet and dance the night away in the clubs...suddenly are "disabled" and "need" a wheelchair cuz they do not want to stand in line like the rest of us. JUST when I thought maybe we could start to move. here comes another herd of wheelchairs to butt in and go right to the front of the line. That is when the group I was with all said...OK this is our last cruise. More than 3 hours in line....done with cruising.
The cruise business has to slow down as prices have gotten expensive and ships providing less services.b. Plus the mega ships are have way too many passengers.
A large percentage of cruisers since the restart are using credit cards to pay for their vacation and between that and inflation in general the big balloon is about to pop. As travel agents we certainly saw that especially in the last two years.
I have been on buses with more than 50 passengers!