Originally Posted by
pinniped
When you guys quote a percent "saved", what is your basis? I see ads that say "80% off!!" I realize those may be a complete joke, but how do you estimate the baseline value when you know that neither the 80% off or the absurdly high rack rate represent reality?
Refinements as we've discussed this further:
- One big thing we want to avoid is nickel-and-diming once we're on board. We don't need ultrapremium liquor or a 5-star dinner every night, but I don't want to be relegated to Miller Lite, cheap wine, and buffet food either. Some of the references to drink credits or numbers of meals permitted in certain restaurants leads me to believe that some ships lure you in with low rates and then every is extra onboard. I'd probably pay a higher base rate and accept a 1-2 day shorter cruise to have a more truly all-inclusive price.
- We realize we'd have to pay extra for guided tours and other types of shore excursions, but we're also hoping we have a few ports where there are ways to escape the cruise crowd. When my wife and I have traveled in tropical places before, we've purposely avoided places with a lot of cruise traffic. Now we're going to be in the midst of it - I know this might not be easy - but we're going to want to get away from it for a day or two where possible.
One of our family members shot out a link to a bunch of potential cruises. I noticed it was from vacationstogo.com. This whole travel agent thing is going to be a hard point for me - I frankly do not trust any of them whatsoever. Full stop. I'm going to have to get over that, maybe the site where you get 4-5 of them to basically bid for your business will help.
Cruise lines, unlike hotels, really don't have "rack rates" and then actually wind up selling the majority of their cabins at substantially lower prices. The vast majority of cabins actually are sold at the published price you see on the cruise line websites. When I say I saved 10-12% I take the fare I actually pay against the published fare. For example, say I book a $10,000 cruise on an all-inclusive line. At final payment the TA I'm using now sends me a check for $1,000. Simple math.
As for getting "nickeled and dimed", well to some extent that's going to happen unless you buy your way up to a much more expensive all-inclusive line. Now there are cruisers on strict budgets who buy absolutely nothing on board. No sodas, bottled water, wine, beer, specialty coffees, etc. They buy nothing in the ship's shops, they don't eat in any of the specialty restaurants, and they don't go on any ship run tours. There are others who lose track of their spending and get the famous shocking end of cruise bill that can and often does exceed the fare they paid. Outside of the strict budget folks it really is a case of "pay me now or pay me later" when considering a mass market line ship versus an all-inclusive line ship. One way or the other you're going to pay. By the way, all cruise lines are "cashless", you can't pay cash for anything on the ship during the cruise except for casino play. The rest has to go on a shipboard account backed up by a credit card you have to present at embarkation. Every cabin will have to have it's own account so say 10 cabins you're talking 10 credit cards and the holds the ship will put against those cards.
I can't speak to your adversity to travel agencies or agents. As I shared with you before I have used some good ones. I do all my own research and planning so all I need or want is the best price and for sure I'm not going to get that directly from any cruise line.