Is RC getting a little expensive lately?

[cruisebuddy]

We annually do a Thanksgiving cruise and when I started to compare prices I was floored! I used Vacations To Go for my pricing, but after checking other sites, I found that they were all pretty close to these. Here is what I found...

Mexico - 11/18 departure (same itineraries)

Carnival (Long Beach) - $979 balcony
Princess (San Diego) - $952 balcony
RCCL (Los Angeles) - $1629 balcony!!!


Eastern Caribbean - 11/18 departure

HAL (Ft. Lauderdale) - $979 balcony
Princess (Ft. L) - $899 balcony
Carnival (Miami) - $819 balcony
NCL (Miami) - $849 balcony
RCCL (Miami) - $2089 balcony!!!!


Unbelievable! I'd pay a little more to cruise the Liberty out of Miami, but not twice as much! RCCL is getting ready to lose my business. Anyone else notice this lately?

 

[Cruizer]

Yes, several people have. The bottom line is, as long as RCI continues to fill its ships its prices will remain high. Recently I booked a cruise on the Serenade. The price for the week I am going is 50% higher than the prior week (because of school scheduling). I bit my lip and booked the cruise. Recently I noticed a price reduction. I called my agent and was able to get $260 refunded (which is more than 10% of the total cost). So apparently RCI was having a little trouble filling this ship at such a highly inflated price.

Nonetheless, if you want to feel better, try pricing Disney. I am still trying to recover from what I saw, and I didn't book the cruise (because of the price).

June 2008, one week, same three ports, Mexican Riviera out of Los Angeles (per person) ...

CARNIVAL
Inside - $879
Ocean view - $999
Balcony - $1149

DISNEY
Inside - $1499
Ocean view - $1699
Balcony - $2119
Suite - SOLD OUT!

ROYAL CARIBBEAN
Inside - $749
Ocean view - $879
Balcony - $1219

Now understand, the prices listed are the best for the month, and might not be for the same week.

Also, Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean manage to do this cruise all the time without having the ships bumping into each other (Princess leaves on Saturday, Carnival follows Princess one day later and RCI also leaves on Sunday, but does the ports in the reverse order).

However, Disney and RCI will be leaving from the same port on the same day and going to the same ports on the same day in the same order. Basically you could tie a string to both of these ships and it would never get broken. Why Disney could not leave on Saturday (basically take over Princess' route) is beyond me. It would be nice if one of the ships could do the ports in the reverse order (reverse of what is currently listed) but that would mean that it would match Carnival's listed itinerary. Carnival's home port is only a few minutes from the Disney and RCI home port for this itinerary.

All three ships start and end on Sunday. Go to the Port of Los Angeles on Saturday during the summer and it will be dead (cruise ship wise). Go on a Sunday and there will be three ships in port.

 

[Travel itis]

The pricing is why we're getting ready to switch our Jan '09 cruise from RCI to Princess. We paid the extra for our 10th anniversary on the Mariner, but I don't think RCI is a good value for our family, not that we wouldn't love to take all 5 of us. Switching to Carnival would save us at least $1,400. : Princess will save money too, but I don't have the bottom line yet.

 

[piercetc2]

prices are somewhat determined by supply and demand- if a sailing is selling the prices go up as the supply of cabins decreases-
good prices can be found if you are able to travel in off season weeks-

good luck to you guys in finding that special cruise for a great price- can take some searching but can be done- happy cruising

 

[cruisebuddy]

piercetc2, I have to disagree with you to an extent. If you will notice on my original post, I was looking at the exact same cruise on three different lines; RC, Carnival and Princess. After I posted that, I extended my search to include HAL and NCL, and found that RC was the most expensive (I was looking at a balcony suite) of all of them. That includes an additional day on an NCL cruise that gave me one additional stop! For less money!

Again, I can understand RC charging more for the opportunity to travel on the Freedom (or Liberty). Being that the two are currently the talk of the industry, sure, charge a little more. But for the Vision OTS at almost twice as much? Forget it.

Too bad. After cruising with them as much as we have, it's too bad I'm forgoing all of that loyalty. But the free cocktail party for loyalty members does not justify a price that is at least 40% more than their direct competitors.

 

[gloria lund]

I agree, we booked on the Freedom for Nov. We did so because we have friends from far away that will be on it and decided to have a reunion. After booking and seeing what prices were on several ships for the same cruise....I was kind of sick. Going through with it but its almost double what we could have cruised with Princess Lines for. Soooo, it will probally be our last cruise with them. Nothing on that ship that makes paying that much more for........

 

[Bobbie]

That price for the old Vision is way out of line. It used to be the absolute cheapest ship on the West Coast! I do think RCI is pricing way too high right now. Hopefully, the other lines won't join them and raise theirs too.