What should your cruise price include?

One of the things that always keeps me and everyone else in the cruise industry on our toes is what is included in the price of your cruise. All cruises include your food and you can generally eat all day if you want too. Hot drinks and soft drinks are available if you pop up to the buffet and some cruise lines have several places to get Tea’s and coffee’s. You have Entertainment included and on most lines that is a really good standard and varied. You get to travel and see lots of interesting different places and some include excursions but most don’t.

Why is what is included in the price different on every cruise?  With so many Cruise Lines both on the oceans of the world and on the rivers it is important to know what they offer as standard and what current promotions they have on at the moment to try an tempt you to book with them and not a competitor.

When I went with Celebrity we got the Free Classic Drinks Package Included

The promotions that seem to generate the most interest or tend to get asked for the most are Free Drinks Packages but are they the best value. When Royal Caribbean or Celebrity have an offer like that we do see an awful lot of bookings because we think we are getting are getting something that could cost a fortune for free. Have you ever compared a cruise before and after a Free Drinks promotion is on, I have. I booked my cruise for next year when they first went on sale and got a really good price and had the flexibility to change it if a better promotion came along. The next promotion that was on was Free Drinks and when I worked out the difference in cost I was better sticking with my price and adding a drinks package on separately. So I have my food, entertainment, kids clubs use of the facilities of the ship included apart from any that are  chargeable. What I don’t have is a Drinks Package, Gratuities, Excursions etc

So is this right, is it not time that Cruise Lines started to include this as standard? Some do you have the likes of Regent Seven Seas who include everything in the price but sometimes look more expensive until you see what they include and other don’t. NCL made the move to premium All Inclusive so they included the Drinks and Gratuities as standard but they are back tracking a little bit as they now offer some cabins on a Guarantee basis which don’t include the drinks but they do sell them cheaper so not everybody can be happy with the extra cost to have more included. Marella ( Was Thomson ) do All Inclusive on there newer ships Discovery, Discovery 2 and Explorer again with Drinks included but they don’t on the older fleet however they do include the Gratuities on them all. Should they not stick to one promotion across the whole fleet?

If it is not drinks packages you have to weigh up it is should I book a Saver, Early Saver or Select Fare with Cunard and P&O at some point you will have the same grade of cabin but can different prices on the same ship. A saver sounds cheaper bit has less choice as you wont know a cabin number or be able to choose your dining time and wont get free shuttles. The select fare is more but you generally get some spending money, Free Parking or Coach travel which often offsets the difference.

We had a fantastic evening excursion in an Amsterdam Museum included as standard on our Tauck River cruise

It’s the same on the Rivers you have some lines like APT who include everything even home pickups, flights, transfers, all meals and drinks, fantastic excursions. But then to complicate things again the have the Travel Marvel product which does not include the same. No pickups, most excursions but not all, drinks with meals but not all the time.

Do we like the choice as we don’t all want the same things and all have our own favourite cruise lines and ships? Should it get even more complicated where you can add your own package on to each cruise. You could have a basic fare and then have a list of extras you can include until everything is included for a fee for each thing you add?

What do you think as I would love some feedback on this? For now I don’t see anything drastic changing and do think it is a case of booking when you see the deal with what you want included. What I would say is talk to an independent agent like me who can give you all the options and help you make the right decision for you.