Will all cruises turn All Inclusive
As the news reaches us that you can now add on All Inclusive Drinks packages with Cunard and P&O cruises it does make me wonder what the future holds for the cruise industry and if one day in the not to distant future all cruises will infact be All Inclusive!
There has been growing momentum over the last few years that customers want to have drinks included in the price they pay and now it seems that even the cruise lines that have resisted the most are offering packages. With P&O and Cunard now offering packages they join the likes of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, MSC, Costa, Fred Olsen, Cruise and Maritime, Princess, Holland America and others. Lots of the River cruise lines already include beer & Wine with meals and again you can top up with most so you have a full package.
With Marella going All Inclusive and including Drinks and Gratuities as standard and Norwegain Cruise Line have been Premium All Inclusive for a couple of years now. Azamara cruises and Regent have also been offering All Inclusive for a number of years in the luxury end of the cruise market and it does seem that is the direction in which we are heading.
When talking to customers about looking for a cruise the number who ask for a drinks package to be included has increased massively but there are still some that dont want. None drinkers or people who only have the odd one dont think they would get value for money from this and if it was included in the price you pay as standard feel they would be paying over the odds for something they wont use.
It will be interesting to see how this develops over the next few years as you see lots of people waiting to book when the free drinks offers are on. As soon as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity or MSC are offering free drinks then they always do really well bit is it value for money. If you comapre the price of a cruise before they include the drinks package and then when the do include for free you can see a massve difference in the cost. When I booked my cruise for October this year back in March 2018 I never got a drinks package and have seen 4 different free drinks promotions since then but when I have worked out the cost to add a drinks package on it is still way better for me to do that rather than to have booked on the free drinks promotion.
I would be interested to know what you all think of how things will go in the future so let me know.
3 Comments on “Will all cruises turn All Inclusive”
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Hi I'm Harry, I live in the north east of England in sunny Middlesbrough, I'm married and have 3 children a daughter aged 12 and two twin boys who are ten years younger and keep us all on our toes. I love spending time with the family, going on holiday,…
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I find it strange that you lump Azamara and Regent together and as such imply that they have the same offering.
This is far from true, the drinks on Azamara are not “unlimited”, the alcoholic drinks on offer are very limited in terms of brands available. To claim that Azamara is in the luxury end of the market with Regent is very misleading, the service and facilities provided by these companies on all levels is not by any stretch of the imagination comparable.
I regrettably believed the hype of Azamara and gave them a try last year. I was very disappointed. If I was to compare every aspect of a cruise holiday from pre-cruise service to final disembarkation Azamara would be miles behind Regent.
Rant over. I see the cruise industry developing in three ways:-
1. The luxury end of the market will become even more luxurious and expensive to cater for the increasing number of people who are put off cruising all together by the dumbing down by the majority of cruise lines.
2.Some lines will opt for the lowest end of the market where they will offer no frills at all. The only thing included in the price will be the transportation by ship and accommodation on a room only basis sold extremely cheaply. Every thing else will be charged on a per item basis to the on board account.
3. Most cruise lines will try to find a niche somewhere between the two extremes and will vary between almost nearly all inclusive and almost totally uninclusive. The main difference between them will be the marketing hype.
I hope that all cruise lines don’t go All Inclusive as my husband and I don’t drink enough to warrant spending the money they charge.
Lot’s of people would say the same Vicky