The one thing that does bug me about them however is the amount of things you're charged for whilst your onboard and the cost of those things in general.
If you're not careful you can walk away from your cruise with a huge bill on your onboard account and I don't think Celebritys latest brain wave is going to help this situation much.
They've just announced a new behind the scenes program whilst your onboard called the 'See how it's done tour' and the 'Bridge sail away experience'.
And the price of this?
See How it's Done Tour - $150
Bridge Sail Away Experience - $75
How much!!!!????
Now don't get me wrong, I've had a bridge tour before, (QM2 - for free), and it was a great experience and I'd love to see how a ships run behind the scenes but $150 to look at a kitchen!
Come on Celebrity who are you trying to kid!
I may be wrong though. They must have done some research into this and decided that that's what the market could bear.
What do you think though?
Would you be interested in a behind the scenes tour of a cruise ship and more importantly how much would you pay for it?
Do you think Celebrity cruises are ripping people off with this?
Happy cruising.
Celebrity Cruising are ripping people off - full stop - with their additional charges - excursions, 15% gratuities added to alcholic drinks - which are already at inflated prices - compare a full bottle of gin in the shop at $20-$25 with the $7-$9 per shot they charge (plus 15% of course).
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong my wife and I love Celebrity, we have just done our 3rd cruise with them, we went to the Holy Land and the ship had a mild out break of norovirus - it was contained with very stringemt hygiene precations and their normally clean ship was spotless.
I had a conversation with an American on opur table regarding Gratuities and my general objection to them - i stated that i would rather have $200 added to the cost of my cruise and do away with all the gratuity nonsense and although i think he did not disagree with me he said it would be diifficult to impliment as all the cruise lines are cost sensitive in their pricing policies and one would not 'step out of line',
As there are 2 major players - Carnival and Royal Carribean who run the majority of the cruise lines this should not be a problem.. I am sure the UK cruising contingent would agree with a move such as this.
This would not preculde individual gratuity payments should anyone wish to reward exceptional service.
Personally I would never pay $150 to look at a kitchen or even the bridge
Where RCL really rip you off is in offering you a Rum Punch when you get on board for the first time, and only after you've taken do they then ask you to sign a chit to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteI've done a backstage tour on Princess and it was worth $150. You see the engine control room, crew areas, Laundry, photograph etc. You have drinks on the bridge the with captain, photos and souveniers.
I think NCL were the first to ofer an equally expensive 'behind the scenes tour'. However, some passengers do really pay for it - so it works!
ReplyDeleteMalcolm Oliver
I really like your blog, keep it up!
ReplyDelete